59 - MONTSERRAT GUDIOL COROMINA (Barcelona, 1933–2015).

MONTSERRAT GUDIOL COROMINA (Barcelona, 1933–2015). “Portrait of a Woman,” 1979. Pastels and pencil on paper. Signed and dated in the lower right corner. Measurements: 63 x 48.5 cm; 88 x 72.5 cm (frame). Montserrat Gudiol began her career in the art world at her family’s medieval painting restoration studio, and from 1950 onward she devoted herself to painting on panel and on paper. That same year, she held her first solo exhibition at the Casino de Ripoll (Girona). In 1953, she participated in the group exhibition “Retrato actual” at the Círculo Artístico de Barcelona, and the following year she made her international debut with a solo exhibition of drawings held at the Miami Museum (United States). That same year, he took part in the group exhibition “Pintura femenina” (C.I.C.F., Barcelona), won First Prize from the Barcelona Provincial Council, and received the Second San Jorge Prize from the same organization. In 1960, she participated in the National Fine Arts Exhibition held in Barcelona, where she won a third medal, and also took part in the International Drawing Exhibition of the Ynglada Guillot Foundation (Barcelona), where she was awarded First Prize. In 1962, she held a major solo exhibition at the Sala Gaspar in Barcelona (a gallery where she would continue to exhibit from then on), and that same year she took part in a group exhibition held at the Casón del Buen Retiro in Madrid. Since then, she has continued to hold solo exhibitions and participate in group shows, both in Spain and in Germany, South Africa, the Czech Republic, China, France, Japan, the United States, Russia, and Canada. Notable among his solo exhibitions are those held at the Pieter Wenning Gallery in Johannesburg (1967), the Tamenaga Gallery in Tokyo (1974), Au Molin de Vauboyen in Paris (1978), the Exhibition Hall of the Union of Painters of the USSR in Moscow (1979), the Dreiseitel Gallery in Cologne (1981), and the Walton-Gilbert Gallery in San Francisco (1984). In 1980, she created a major monumental work for the Abbey of Montserrat: a depiction of Saint Benedict. In 1981, she became the first woman to be admitted to the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi, and in 1998, the Government of Catalonia awarded her the Cross of Sant Jordi. Her work is currently represented at MACBA, the Reina Sofía National Art Museum, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, the modern art museums in Johannesburg, San Diego, Miami, and Flint (U.S.), the Joseph Cantor Foundation in Indianapolis (U.S.), the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne (Switzerland), the Monastery of Montserrat, and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi.