The Work of Rafael Durancamps

It is difficult to find a common nexus for all works of this self-taught artist. Painting did not keep secrets from this artist and, throughout his life, he continued changing his pictorial interests, always with a single objective: to find his own style. His uncommon virtue is his diversity in subjects: landscapes, still life, portraits, scenes of everyday life including the corralling of bulls. The primary constant in Durancamps' painting is this variety of contents.

Born in Sabadell in 1891, he painted throughout all of the 20th century until the last day of his life and, by his own merits, he is considered to be one of the main Catalan figurative artists. But his artistic beginnings were not easy. His father, a textile industrialist of Sabadell, did not want to hear or speak of Rafael's artistic interests. His father thought that he would end up in poverty if he dedicated himself to painting.

And even with this, Rafael chose to change schools when an educator at the school where he studied commented to him that it would not be bad idea to harness that talent.

FIRST PAINTINGS
His trips as a textile representative throughout Spain, actually heightened his interest in art. And, his access to the different museums in the cities he visited augmented his knowledge of art. In the Prado Museum in Madrid for example, he copied works of painters like Velázquez until there were no more secrets to their work. In addition, he became more visible because as a textile representative taking orders and building client relationships, he began gifting some of his drawings to his clients.

He always carried drawing paper in his pocket on which he created lines and forms and shapes of places or people that caught his attention.

Natural light was another important constant in his work and he never wanted to work with artificial light. The Durancamps that painted different landscapes of the Vallès or the Maresme, two important regions relating to his life and his work, is nothing like the Durancamps that placed color he way he saw it the city of the Seine.

Durancamps painted in oil like most of the Catalan painters of the time. In fact, one of them, Joaquim Mir, considerably influenced the style of the painter from Sabadell. There was a period where Durancamps painted "to the Mir", but without taking out the light and expressivity that he had in his own art.

The time came to go to Paris, in order for him to better understand the work of the great impressionist painters. And, fifteen years of life in Paris ended in 1941. Adolph Hitler and World War II were to be the end of the Paris career of artist from Sabadell just as he was becoming more recognized and appreciated. However, even during this time Durancamps maintained his ties to the Mediterranean where he had been painting since 1912. He summered with his wife and daughter every year in Cadaqués - another one of the places that has benefited from the work of this painter.