Eveli Torent (Badalona, 1876 – Barcelona, 1940) was an artist whose personality and career were both highly particular. His beginnings were firmly rooted in the questing spirit that emerged from the prodigious modernista movement. As a creator he was more self-taught than academically trained and his oeuvre was premeditatedly choral in form and execution. A skilful draughtsman, he also left his footprint in the realm of illustration.

Of an enterprising character not devoid of ambition, he moved to Paris in1901 and soon became a regular at the city’s celebrated art salons. He associated with anti-establishment intellectual circles while at the same time relating to upper-class Parisian society, whose members were interested in his costumbrista works and portraits, genres in which he came to specialise.

In1914 the artist travelled to New York to further pursue and develop his creative instincts, and it was here that he became a Freemason. He returned to Barcelona in 1921 and embarked upon a new chapter in his life and career marked by his entry into the world of pedagogy, by a firm commitment to philanthropy and by his sojourns at the Torre d’en Rovira on Eivissa (Ibiza), which he converted into a singular and attractive museum of humanism. The Franco regime’s persecution of Freemasonry led to his imprisonment and to his death, which occurred shortly after he was released.

Torent belonged to the second generation of modernista artists, with whom he shared desires and projects at Els Quatre Gats. He contributed to the establishment’s inaugural exhibition, was one of its active members and became good friends with Joaquim Mir, Carles Casagemas and Pablo Picasso, who portrayed him on several occasions.

His artistic output during this period embraced naturalist landscape painting, allegorical images and social scenes. His styles and techniques were equally heterogeneous, ranging from explicit realism and effects involving light to formal disruption and colour contrasts.

He contributed to leading journals and magazines of the time, from symbolist Luz to the popular L’Esquella de la Torratxa. He also worked in advertising, designing posters of a definitely fin-de-siècle style.

Paris welcomed Torent in 1901. The artist soon became initiated into the iconic art salons, to which he contributed regularly until 1913. In January 1903 he exhibited for the first time at the Galerie Berthe Weill alongside the youngsters Raoul Dufy and Jean Metzinger. In the city he made friends with the anarchist writer Laurent Tailhade, who introduced him into his intellectual and artistic circle. Together they travelled to Brittany, and fruit of this trip was a notable collection of paintings and illustrations. However, Torent’s output primarily addressed portraiture and costumbrismo, and it was in the latter genre that he attained fame with an oeuvre that straddled singularity and reiteration. As an illustrator he published his works in such leading magazines as L’Assiette au Beurre, Le Rire and La Vie Parisienne.

In 1910 Torent travelled to Argentina, where he devoted himself to painting portraits by commission and, among these, one of particular importance, that of Enric Morera. This is undoubtedly an exceptional work by virtue of its chromatic vibrancy and of the way in which it captures the Catalan composer’s temperament. He took advantage of the time he spent in Argentina to explore the country and all its nooks and crannies.

In 1914 he set off on another long journey in pursuit of new professional expectations. His destination this time was New York, where he lived until 1921 and continued to cultivate the portrait genre and decorative landscapes, which showcased his characteristic stylistic versatility. According to the artist himself, it was in New York that he joined the Freemasons.

In 1922 Torent purchased a defence tower on Eivissa, the Torre d’en Rovira. The building stood on an idyllic site which was practically inaccessible; this, however, suited the artist’s philosophy down to the ground. Around the tower he laid out a singular monumental park with masonic allegories and an archaeological museum. Soon the place would become an attraction for islanders and newcomers alike, whom the owner received with absolute courtesy and ceremony as the self-styled Caliph of Es Palleret. The artist involved himself in local entities and joined the Colònia Eivissenca de Barcelona, whose mission was to establish connections between the people of Eivissa and Catalonia. His relationship with the islanders is given visible form in a set of drawings which reflect their daily lives and culture.