Eliseu Meifren Roig

Place: Barcelona

Born: 1857

Death: 1940

Biography:

Eliseu Meifrèn i Roig was a Spanish Impressionist painter. He studied at the Escola de la Llotja under Antoni Caba and Ramon Martí Alsina. In 1879, he went to Paris and supported his studies by selling small canvases and sketches of cityscapes. His style was influenced by a brief tour of Italy. He participated in the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1881. Eliseu Meifrèn had his first personal exhibition at Sala Parés in Barcelona in 1890, where he presented seventy oils and auctioned off unsold works with Santiago Rusiñol acting as the appraiser. He used the proceeds to return to Italy. In 1892, he went back to Paris and began associating with Impressionists, producing changes in his use of colors. Five years later, he accepted an invitation from the President of the 'Gabinete Literario' and moved to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. His home there became a makeshift art academy. Eliseu Meifrèn played with the principles of en plein air painting throughout his life, capturing scenes from Paris, Venice, Italy, the Canaries, and the Balearic Islands. He was director of the art school in Palma de Mallorca.