Mestres Cabanes, Josep Mestres Cabanes, Fundació Josep Mestres Cabanes

		“El pou de la gallina”, scene of a miracle by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. House at number 22 Carrer Sobrerroca, Manresa, where Josep Mestres Cabanes was born.
		Antoni Mestres i Baxarias and Manuela Cabanes i Molleví, the artists’ parents.
		Mestres Cabanes when he was seven.
		His uncle Ignasi Cabanes i Batlles, a painter and stage designer.
		Bonaventura Corrons, his first decorative painting teacher, in a drawing by Àngel Millán from 1942.
		Stage design studio of Salvador Alarma above the stage at the Circ Barcelonès Theatre in 1915. On the left, seated, Salvador Alarma, and, on the right, standing, Miquel Moragas, the artist’s uncle.
		Salvador Alarma (in the twenties).
		The theatre designer Maurici Vilomara, with whom Mestres Cabanes worked on various occasions (1926).
		Mestres Cabanes during his sea voyage to Buenos Aires, 1921.
		Isabel Lanaspa, at the age of eighteen.
		The Alarma team at the Seville International Exhibition. From left to right, Salvador Vilanova (carpenter), Pere Boldú (painter/decorator) and Mestres Cabanes, in the Plaza de America, Seville, on 16 April 1929.
		Mestres Cabanes in the cloister of Sant Pau del Camp church, setting for some paintings in 1929.
		Decoration for a room for a masked ball at the Principal Theatre in Zaragoza (1930).
		Front page of the catalogue for his exhibition in Ripoll (1935).
		Logo created by the Alarma-Mestres firm (1939).
		Poster advertising some dioramas exhibited in the Avenida de la Luz (1941).
		Front page of the catalogue for the exhibition at the Sala Barcino in Barcelona (1941).
		Façade of the Casa Vilches (Madrid, 1942).
		Mestres Cabanes painting at the Llafranc exhibition (August 1943).
		Mestres Cabanes with his wife, Isabel Lanaspa, and his daughter Isabel in Plaça Catalunya, Barcelona, on 18 June 1944.
		Inside the stage design studio at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. On the left, Joan Vilajoana, and, on the right, Andreu Vallvé, on 27 March 1945, both followers and assistants of Mestres Cabanes.
		Opening ceremony of the 1945-1946 academic year at the Theatre Institute. Josep Mestres Cabanes gives the lecture “El ángulo maestro de la escenografía” (The master angle in stage design).
		Mestres Cabanes painting the murals in the Mirror Room at the Gran Teatre del Liceu on 14 November 1946.
		Original by Josep Mestres Cabanes for the 1951-1952 Liceu season.
		Exhibition at Casa del Libro, Barcelona. Front, from left to right, Josep Mestres, Juli Borrell, Ramon Pociello, Ricard Opisso and Ros i Güell. From left to right, Mr. Llop, Andreu Carceller, Amadeu Freixes and Isidre Casanovas.
		Mestres Cabanes in the Gran Teatre del Liceu studio painting one of the mural panels intended for the Redemptorists’ church on 12 June 1955.
		Mestres Cabanes on 5 November 1958.
		Mestres Cabanes and his assistant Mr. Miquel in the Liceu stage design studio preparing the float “En sitio y belleza único” for the Mercè festival parade in 1960.
		Mestres Cabanes painting one of the twelve dioramas on the life of Columbus intended for the Nova York Fair (1963).
		Watercolour by Mestres Cabanes showing the atmosphere of the stage design studio at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
		Cover of one of the volumes of the Tratado de perspectiva.
		End-of-year examination for Mestres Cabanes’ perspective class at the Sant Jordi College of Fine Arts on 16 May 1967.
		Mestres Cabanes at the Sant Jordi College of Fine Arts (27 November 1967).
		Mestres Cabanes painting from the dome of Burgos Cathedral (1969).
		Tribute at Mestres Cabanes at the Theatre Institute to mark a classroom being named after him, on 19 April 1974.
		Mestres Cabanes at the entrance to the temple of Karnak (Egypt, 1979).
		Mestres Cabanes’ design to convert the Liceu studio space into the Museum of the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
		Commemorative plaque on the façade of the house where he was born, at 22 Carrer Sobrerroca, Manresa (1983).
		Mestres Cabanes in the Salvador brothers’ studio in front of one of his sketches for the play La pregunta perduda o el corral del lleó, by Joan Brossa (1985).
		Mestres Cabanes, accompanied by Joan Brossa, Hermann Bonnín and Daniel Giralt-Miracle, in the foyer of the Romea Theatre in Barcelona (1985).
		Unveiling of a bust paying tribute to Mestres Cabanes in Burgos on 4 February 1989.
		The Prime Minister of Catalonia, Jordi Pujol, with Mestres Cabanes at the presentation of the Gold Medal of the City of Manresa (1989).
		Mestres Cabanes with the dancer Joan Magrinyà at the tribute paid to him by the Liceu in 1989.
		Official opening of the Josep Mestres Cabanes Centenary exhibition at the Manresa Science and Technology Museum, presided over by the Mayor of the City, Jordi Valls.

Born in Manresa in 1898. In 1911, he begins his studies at the Manresa College of Arts and Trades. In 1919 he moves to Barcelona and goes to work in Salvador Alarma’s studio and broadens his studies. In 1927 he is appointed assistant lecturer in perspective at the Theatre Institute. In 1941 he takes possession of the stage design studio at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, a studio he occupied from 1941 to 1971. He receives the Silver Medal from Barcelona Provincial Council, the Silver and Gold Medals from Manresa City Council, the National Theatre Award presented by the Government of Catalonia and Barcelona City Council and the Gold Medal of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as the Golden Poster from the theatre’s consortium. He was Professor of Perspective at the Sant Jordi Higher College of Fine Arts in Barcelona and the Theatre Institute.

1898 Born in Manresa into a family associated with the decorative arts.

1904 His vocation emerges: he draws trading cards of the Russo-Japanese War and makes drawings for his school magazine.

1911 He starts at the College of Arts and Trades in his home city and begins working in Bonaventura Corrons’ decorative arts studio.

1914 He is appointed manager of Bonaventura Corrons’ studio.

1918 He completes his studies and wins the Chamber of Commerce Gold Medal for the best student in his year.

1919 He moves to Barcelona. He joins the studio of the famous stage designer Salvador Alarma. He enrols at the College of Fine Arts.

1921 He goes to Buenos Aires to fit the ceiling and proscenium arch at the Cervantes Theatre, opened by María Guerrero’s company, the owners and founders of the theatre.

1924 He marries Isabel Lanaspa.

1925 Advised by Alarma, he creates two paintings on Wagnerian themes to decorate the hall of the house of the tenor Francesc Viñas.

1926 He is appointed manager of Salvador Alarma’s studio.

1927 He is appointed assistant lecturer on perspective and stage design at the Theatre Institute. He takes part in an exhibition organised in Sants together with Ramon Casas and Isidre Nonell.

1928 He goes to Madrid to mount an exhibition of theatrical set models by Salvador Alarma at the Fine Arts Circle.

1929 Dioramas for the Barcelona International Exhibition and the Ibero-American exhibition in Seville. His daughter Isabel is born.

1934 He makes the first sketches for the first of his own stage designs: Els Pastorets for the Foment Mataroní theatre.

1936 The students at the Theatre Institute have Mestres appointed a tenured lecturer in stage design, replacing Alarma. He makes one of his greatest discoveries in the field of perspective: the master angle.

1940 He paints the first of his 104 pictures of Burgos Cathedral. The first stage designs planned, made and signed by him.

1941 He accepts the Gran Teatre del Liceu’s offer to take over the studio and do jobs for that company and for other customers. First individual exhibition of his paintings in the Sala Barcino in Barcelona. He sells almost all the works exhibited.

1942 The first two operas with his stage designs open at the Gran Teatre del Liceu: Lohengrin and Parsifal. He exhibits at the Sala Vilches in Madrid.

1947 For the centenary of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, he paints the ceiling of the two vestibules of the Rest Room.

1950 He paints four altarpieces for the great church La Seu in Manresa.

1953 Stage design for the world premiere of the opera Canigó.

1955 For the arrival in Barcelona of the Bayreuth Festival Company, he makes various Wagnerian characters to decorate the shop windows in Pelai, Barcelona.

1956 Last stage design for the Gran Teatre del Liceu: Tristan and Isolda. First trip to Venice, a city that charms him and which he will visit three times.

1959 Exhibition at the Sala Grifé i Escoda with his works on Venice.

1959 He gains the post of professor at the Sant Jordi College of Fine Arts by competitive public examination.

1961 The Barcelona Provincial Council awards him the Silver Medal of Theatrical Merit.

1962 Medal from the Theatre Institute.

1963 For the International Fair in New York, he paints a series of twelve dioramas alluding to Christopher Columbus and the discovery of America.

1964 He publishes his Tratado de perspectiva (Treatise on Perspective) (two volumes).

1967 The government of Venezuela commissions twelve new dioramas on Christopher Columbus from him.

1968 Manresa City Council awards him the City’s Silver Medal.

1970-1971 He has to retire from the Theatre Institute and the College of Fine Arts, after they extend his contract for another year.

1972-1975 He works on an album with 25 sanguines and another with 25 gouaches for the 125th anniversary of the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

1977 Opening of the Mestres Cabanes Room at Manresa County Museum.

1981 The book La catedral de Burgos en la pintura de Mestres Cabanes is published.

1983 To mark the centenary of Wagner’s death, he paints twelve gouaches on works by the composer, published in the form of lithographs by the magazine Monsalvat.

1985 The Government of Catalonia and Barcelona Provincial Council present him with the National Theatre Award (stage design section).

1985 Sketches for Brossa’s play La pregunta perduda o el corral del lleó.

1986 His wife dies.

1987 Sketch for a picture called L'Estel de Nazaret for the Sant Vicenç Centre in Sarrià.

1989 Burgos City Council places a bust of Mestres in front of the cathedral. Manresa City Council presents him with the City’s Gold Medal and establishes the foundation that bears his name. The Society of the Gran Teatre del Liceu awards him its Gold Medal and the consortium awards him the society’s Golden Poster. An anthological exhibition of his work is staged and The Mastersingers of Nuremberg is performed with his stage design. He makes a series of sanguines on Wagnerian themes.

1990 On 17 September he dies at his house in Barcelona.

Josep Mestres Cabanes, in 1975.

Josep Mestres Cabanes (Manresa, 13 June 1898 – Barcelona, 17 September 1990) was a Catalan painter and stage designer and Professor of Perspective at the Sant Jordi Higher College of Fine Arts in Barcelona and the Theatre Institute. He began his studies at the Manresa College of Arts and Trades. In terms of painting, Mestres Cabanes’ work is very extensive and multi-faceted: oils, watercolours, murals, graphic design, altarpieces, dioramas, parade floats, ornamentation, stage design sketches, texts on stage design, etc. He worked as a stage designer in the studio at the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona Opera House) (1941-1975), where he became the last great classical stage designer.

Mestres Cabanes was born into a humble family from Manresa associated with the decorative arts. He began to show drawing ability at a very young age. He began studies in art, which he later continued in Barcelona, entering the studio of the great stage designer and decorator Salvador Alarma, where his brother Francesc was already working. He also designed floats for parades and decorated ballrooms and stands for trade fairs.

In the twenties, Alarma was commissioned to decorate the ceiling of the Cervantes Theatre in Buenos Aires, opened in 1921, and Mestres Cabanes went oversee the installation. In 1929 the Alarma studio made a series of dioramas for the Barcelona and Seville exhibitions, a speciality in which they always worked and had no rival. Mestres Cabanes painted many theatre sets – for plays, comedies, light opera, revue, etc. – and the first stage design he created himself was a commission from the Tívoli Theatre.

In 1939 he went into partnership with Alarma, creating the firm Alarma i Mestres. When Alarma died, out of respect for him Mestres Cabanes went into partnership with his son, Antoni Alarma, setting up the Mestres-Alarma business, but this lasted less than a year. Mestres left the Circ Barcelonès studio and moved to the Liceu, where he knew they were waiting for him. The Liceu offered him its studio, which had been occupied by the outstanding Maurici Vilomara, with the freedom also to be able to use it for private commissions. In 1945, when part of the rest room collapsed, he restored Josep Mirabent’s murals. It was during this period when he began his stage design project for Aida and when he made one of his greatest discoveries in the field of perspective, the master angle, as well as beginning to work on his paintings through various exhibitions. However, the first two stage designs he would open at the Gran Teatre del Liceu were Lohengrin and Parsifal. Then came Siegfried, Aida, The Mastersingers of Nuremburg, Tristan and Isolda, and, finally, Canigó. After these successes he became professor at the Sant Jordi College of Fine Arts and was awarded the Silver Medal of Theatrical Merit.

In 1977, the Mestres Cabanes room was opened at Manresa County Museum and he was given the National Theatre Award in the stage design section. He also created stage designs for works by Joan Brossa at the Romea Theatre.

A year before his death in 1989, Manresa City Council awarded him the City’s Gold Medal and, ten years after his death, the Josep Mestres Cabanes Foundation was opened as a stable base and exhibition and documentation centre for his work.

Josep Mestres Cabanes, in 1966.

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