Antoni Munill (1939-1977) was a Catalan painter who explored various ideas to created interesting and evolutionary artworks. He studied in Barcelona and also Paris where he was influenced by the rich history of French art. Some of his works are considered to be akin to impressionism yet his natural style was more expressive and abundant with emotion. He’s primarily known for working in pastels and seemed to draw quickly in a style imbued with Catalonian spirit.

In 1977, when his career was beginning to blossom, his life was tragically cut short - much to the shock of his peers. His friend, and fellow creative, Joaquim Soler (1940-1993), described this moment 14 years later in a biography titled ‘Antoni Munill - Apunts per a una biografia apassionada’:

[Translated]

“An artist has died and he has died young, he has died working. Perhaps that phrase would suffice; perhaps it should only be added that his name, his surname, and his work, now ours forever, cannot die.”

“I write because I think it is an immense absurdity that Antoni Munill can’t continue to carry out his evolutionary work, mowed down on the threshold of the future. I write because I also want to fight against the irremediable, against this meaningless emptiness that leads us to the nothingness of a fabric that will forever remain blank.”

A short time before Munill’s death, he had been appointed as a member of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris - a great honour.

Today, looking back across his portfolio of work, you see influences ranging from the French impressionists through to Picasso’s blue period and Henri Matisse’s sinuous line drawings. Antoni Munill was a true artist, yet left the world with only a sense of what he could’ve become.

Antoni Munill's wife, Teresa Camps, in his studio.