FRANCISCO MIRALLES GALUP (Valencia, 1848 - Barcelona, 1901). "Gentleman in interior. Oil on canvas. Signed in the lower right area. Measurements: 58 x 42 cm; 73 x 55 cm (frame). Francisco Miralles was formed in Barcelona in the workshop of Ramón Martí Alsina, where he was a fellow disciple of the members of the first generation of Catalan realists. Settled in Paris between 1863 and 1866, it is possible that he studied with Courbet on the advice of Alsina, who also trained with him. Due to these influences, his youthful style, until the end of the seventies, is still vigorously realistic. Later he evolved towards a style of feminine elegance, typically fin-de-siècle, with a Fortunyist-influenced technique. In Paris he popularized a refined style, centered mainly on costumbrist themes of bourgeois life and high society, mainly featuring female characters. He participated in the Salon des Artistes Français, in Paris, between 1875 and 1896, and exhibited from 1877 in the Sala Parés in Barcelona. After several years between Paris and Barcelona, he returned to Barcelona in 1893. Francisco Miralles is represented in the MACBA, the Abbey of Montserrat and the Círculo del Liceo de Barcelona, as well as in important private collections.