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Painter, 1838 to 1874

Marià Fortuny

Marià Fortuny was sent to Morocco at twenty-one to paint a war, and came back with a painter's eye for light that no one in Spain then had. His small scenes in eighteenth-century dress made him famous in Paris, and he died in Rome at thirty-six.

Born
1838, Reus, Spain
Died
1874, Rome, Italy
Movement
Realism
In Barcelona
4 works in 1 museum

Where to see Marià Fortuny in Barcelona

Each work with the museum it hangs in. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya4 works

  1. The Spanish Wedding, by Marià Fortuny, in the MNAC: a wedding party signing the register in the vestry of a Madrid church, in eighteenth-century dress.

    The Spanish Wedding

    1870

    A wedding party in eighteenth-century dress signing the register in the vestry of a Madrid church, every silk and tile picked out in light. It made his name in Paris.

  2. The Battle of Tetuan, by Marià Fortuny, in the MNAC: a wide battlefield of the war in Morocco, with the Spanish army storming the Moroccan camp.

    The Battle of Tetuan

    1862 to 1864

    The Spanish army storming the Moroccan camp outside Tetuan in 1860, on a canvas nearly ten metres wide, painted for Barcelona and never finished.

  3. The Print Collector, by Marià Fortuny, in the MNAC: an eighteenth-century collector bent over prints in a cluttered room.

    The Print Collector

    1866

    An eighteenth-century collector bent over his prints in a crowded room, one of the small costume pieces that collectors in Paris fought over.

  4. The Odalisque, by Marià Fortuny, in the MNAC: a reclining nude on a couch, with a musician playing beside her.

    The Odalisque

    1861

    A nude reclining on a couch while a musician plays beside her, painted in Rome after his first journey to Morocco.

The life of Marià Fortuny

Fortuny was born in Reus and trained at the art school of La Llotja in Barcelona. In 1860 the city's provincial council sent him to Morocco to paint the war Spain was fighting there; the huge Battle of Tetuan, which he never finished, came out of it, with a love of North Africa that stayed with him.

He married the daughter of the Madrazo family of painters, settled in Rome, and found fame in Paris in 1870 with The Spanish Wedding. He died of malaria in Rome in 1874. His son, Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo, became the designer of Venice.

What to know

  • Sent to paint the war in Morocco in 1860
  • The Spanish Wedding made his name in Paris in 1870
  • The MNAC has many of his best-known pictures
Born
11 June 1838, Reus, Spain
Died
21 November 1874, Rome, Italy

Marià Fortuny: common questions

Where can you see Marià Fortuny in Barcelona?
At the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya: The Spanish Wedding, The Battle of Tetuan, The Print Collector and The Odalisque. Museums move and lend their works, so check before a special journey.
What is Marià Fortuny's most famous work in Barcelona?
The Spanish Wedding, of 1870, at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. A wedding party in eighteenth-century dress signing the register in the vestry of a Madrid church, every silk and tile picked out in light. It made his name in Paris.
When and where was Marià Fortuny born?
On 11 June 1838, at Reus, Spain. Marià Fortuny died on 21 November 1874, at Rome, Italy, aged about 36.
What is Marià Fortuny known for?
Sent to paint the war in Morocco in 1860. The Spanish Wedding made his name in Paris in 1870. The MNAC has many of his best-known pictures. Marià Fortuny was a Catalan painter, of Realism.

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