Arte y Cultura


Collection	Competitions	María Vich Donation	Events	Art and Culture Centre

When the Barceló Foundation was created, with its aim of contributing to the betterment of people and to their quality of life in the physical, spiritual, professional and intellectual spheres, it was felt that one of the most important facets was disseminating the Fine Arts so that people could become acquainted with them. Our work focused on preserving the memory of the pictorial works of artists from Mallorca or residing there in the nineteenth century and in the first half of the twentieth century – and not just the most prominent works, but also and more particularly ones that had fallen into oblivion or neglect for various reasons. That has been our mission since 1991.

The Barceló Foundation has a large collection of paintings, noteworthy among which are works by Joan Bauzà, Antoni Ribas Oliver, Ricardo Anckermann, Francisco Maura, Francisco Bernareggi, Pilar Montaner, Sebastià Junyer, Tito Cittadini, J. A. Fuster Valiente, P. Roch Minué, Lluís Graner, W. Degouve de Nuncques, Joan Fuster and Joan Mestre Bosch.

However, our work would not have been complete if it ignored the painting of our own time, and for that reason we have been staging our International Painting Competitions every year.

In Spain, the first ten of these competitions were aimed at artists of all ages. Now, starting in 2001, the Competitions for Young Painting have been arranged, for painters of between 18 and 35 years old.

International Painting Competitions have also been held abroad, in Prague (Czech Republic), the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

The Barceló Foundation has also been devoting an annual exposition to photography since 1991.

An extensive collection of works by the painter María Vich is also part of the Foundation’s stock, she having made a major and valuable donation to the Barceló Foundation in 1996 in the form of 218 works.

The artist María Vich, from Felanitx, is a friend of the Barceló family, and she most generously made a donation of 218 of her works to the Barceló Foundation in 1996.

María Vich, a disciple of the great painter Tito Cittadini, is an artist with an admirable commitment to her work, one whose sensitivity is backed by a strong creative urge that leads her to take on the most varied themes with that extraordinary expressive power of hers that defines her special way of feeling and conceiving art, based in all cases on her expertise in drawing.

Using a wide array of techniques, she portrays wide-ranging themes: landscapes, still lifes, flowers, and figures – her gypsy figures standing out in particular. To those themes she always brings her own personal touch, leading her to fuse reality with imagination, and what is seen with what is felt.

María Vich puts into practice one of the aphorisms of her teacher Cittadini: “Painting without formulae, devoted to instinct, to the heart and to life; painting that feels no shame if on occasions it may move the common man. That is the kind of painting that is to be pursued!”

The Barceló Foundation will arrange for a collection of paintings by this artist to be put on in the exhibition rooms of the Art and Culture Centre in Felanitx.

Forthcoming exhibitions

At the Palma headquarters:

Francisco Castillo ( 14 October to 8 November 2008 )

At the Felanitx headquarters: :

Pere Bennàssar and María Vich (22 August to 26 October 2008)

Painting exhibitions: 50

Photography exhibitions: 17

Sculpture exhibitions: 2

International Painting Competitions: 10

International Young Painting Competitions: 6

International Painting Competitions in other countries: 9

Here the list of artists involved in these exhibitions:

Paintings by the Group of Seven, Bartolomé Canals, Fuster Valiente, Gabriel Comas, Francis Audet, Jaume Juan, Sureda Blanes, Bartomeu Ferrà, Francisco Rosselló, Pedro Cáffaro, Pedro Blanes Viale, Edwin Hubert, Pilar Montaner, Bernardí Celià, Joan Mestre Bosch, Joaquim Sorolla, Miquel Llabrés, María Vich, Jaime Colson, Juan Pizà, J. Castellanas, Tito Cittadini, Pedro Sureda, Alexandro, Leslie Grimes, Guillem Colom, Rosa Palou, P. Roch Minué, Jacobo Sureda, Federico Molina, Zoltan I. Poharnok, Mariano Villalta, J. Puigdengolas, Antonio Sabater, Carlos Got, J. Koslowsky, B. Ribot and Busser.

Photographs by Erich Strenger, Gaspar Aguiló, Juan Carlos Valdovinos, Sebastià Mas, Gabriel Mas, Planas Montanyà, Rafel Creus, Pep Bonet, Domingo Llull, Bartomeu Payeras, López Haar, Miquel Salom, Santiago Bibiloni and Joan Rovira.

International Painting Competitions in Spain:

These are the artists that won the First Prizes in the International Painting Competitions from 1991 to 2000::

Pere Bennàssar, Carlos Vidal, Cándido Ballester, Mariano Mayol, Atsushi Suwa, Dolores Sampol, Vicenç Torres, Eduard Vich, Natalia Campos, Alberto Morago.

These are the artists that won the First Prizes in the International Young Painting Competitions from 2001 to 2005::

Yoshinouske Kozu, Moisés Aguiló, Marcelo Víquez, Gabriela Seguí and Tomeu Morey.

Competitions held in other countries:

The Dominican Republic, in 1992, 1993 and 1996: winners of the first prize: J. Desangles, H. Olivo and Silvio Ávila.

Costa Rica, 1994: winner of the first prize: Guillermo Porras.

Nicaragua, 1994 and 1995: winners of the first prize: Orlando Sobalvarro y Mariano Moyá.

Czech Republic, 1995 and 2005: winners of the first prize: Tomás Cisarovsky and Stefan Tóth.

Travelling Exhibitions:

Photographic exhibition “Balears ahir” (“The Balearic Islands Yesterday”) – from the Foundation’s collection):

Institut Francesc de Borja Moll (Palma de Mallorca), 1994

Lloseta, Binissalem, Sóller, Inca, Santa Eugènia, 1995

Consell, Marratxí, Sineu, Pollença, Esporles, Petra, 1996

Sa Pobla, 1997

Exhibitions of works by the painter María Vich:

Muro, 1998

Felanitx, 2001

Exhibitions of works by the painter “Alexandro”:

Muro, 2000

A new Barceló Foundation Cultural Centre was opened in the Municipal District of Felanitx, the homeland of the Barceló Oliver family, on 13 November 2004.
That centre is housed in the home of the Barceló Oliver family, generously donated to the Barceló Foundation by Mrs. Antonia Barceló Oliver.
The Board of the Barceló Foundation decided to set up a permanent collection there of the works donated to the Barceló Foundation in 1996 by the artist María Vich.
The new Centre will welcome all artistic and cultural activities of interest to the town of Felanitx and its district, this initiative being made available to them.
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Permanent exhibition:
Paintings donated by María Vich
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Exhibitions put on:
2005
“Pintaren Mallorca” (‘They Painted Mallorca’), marking the Centenary of the Tourism Board
“Vells Temps” (‘Olden Days’ – photographs of Mallorca, Menorca e Ibiza)
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2006
Photography. Juan Obrador “Xamarrí”