34 - GABRIEL PUIG RODA (Tírig, Castellón, 1865 – Vinaròs, Castellón, 1919).

GABRIEL PUIG RODA (Tírig, Castellón, 1865 – Vinaròs, Castellón, 1919). “Odalisque,” Rome. Watercolor on paper. Signed. Measurements: 75 x 54 cm; 102 x 81 cm (frame). Gabriel Puig Roda studied art at the San Carlos School of Fine Arts in Valencia, where he enrolled in 1879 thanks to a scholarship from the Provincial Council of Castellón. Once again on a scholarship, he went to Madrid to further his studies at the San Fernando School. There, he received a grant to go to Rome in 1889, where he remained until 1892. In the Italian capital, with the aim of perfecting his use of watercolor, he attended classes at the Chigi Academy and the International Circle of Fine Arts, and his work from these years reflects the influence of his Italian contemporaries. By 1890, he had already gained a certain international following, to whom his agent sold panel paintings and watercolors. His first period in Rome came to an end when his scholarship expired in 1892. He then traveled to Pisa, Genoa, Milan, Padua, Venice, and Bologna, where he made sketches of landscapes and characteristic scenes that he used in his compositions. After a stay in Spain, he returned to Rome and painted “The Expulsion of the Moriscos,” a painting he sent to the Provincial Council of Valencia in 1894. His works from this period fall into two main groups: first, there are the themes influenced by Fortuny, which include genre paintings and Orientalist works. Second are the naturalist works, such as “The Beggar with the Guitar” and “The Corregidor’s Visit,” in which Puig Roda—influenced by the literature of his time—gruffly depicts scenes of local customs from that era. After a period in Barcelona, the painter finally settled in Vinaròs in 1905, where he specialized in watercolors depicting local customs. A significant collection of his works was donated by his children in 1975 to the Provincial Council of Castellón de la Plana, intended for the future Provincial Museum of Fine Arts. An international watercolor competition bearing his name is currently held in Vinaròs.