Studio of Modest Urgell

A bronze sculpture outside this stone building recreates the intimate world of an artist’s studio. Within its small architectural setting are the tools and furnishings associated with creative work, inviting passersby to look more closely. A plaque on the nearby wall explains the reason for its placement: Catalan painter and writer Modest Urgell i Inglada maintained his studio-workshop in this house from 1868 to 1870.

Born in Barcelona in 1839, Urgell studied at the Escola de la Llotja and developed a distinctive approach to landscape painting. His early work was not always readily accepted, but he eventually became one of the recognized landscape painters of his generation. He was particularly drawn to solitary places—quiet roads, coastal horizons, churches and cemeteries—often portraying them beneath fading skies or in subdued light.

Urgell’s years in Girona came during an important period in his development. The city and the surrounding Catalan landscape offered the weathered architecture, open countryside and changing atmosphere that became central to his work. He later spent time in Olot, where he was associated with painter Joaquim Vayreda and the landscape tradition developing there. Urgell ultimately returned to the Escola de la Llotja as a professor, influencing another generation of artists.

The building itself might easily be passed without notice. The sculpture and plaque reveal its quieter history as a place where Urgell observed, imagined and worked during the early years of his career, connecting this corner of Girona with the development of Catalan landscape painting.