Marian Vayreda i Vila[1] (1853-1903) was a Carlist soldier and activist, a painter and a Catalan writer. He is recognized as key representative of Catalan cultural renaissance of the late 19th century. He is particularly acknowledged for his 1904 novel, La Punyalada, declared one of the best Catalan literary works of all time. Politically Vayreda is considered a typical case of an identity located in-between Carlism and emerging Spain's peripheral nationalisms.
Marian[2] Francesc Bartomeu Vayreda i Vila[3] was descendant to noble Catalan families. His paternal ancestors were related to the Alt Garrotxa town of Olot. During the legitimist siege in course of the First Carlist War the family house was set ablaze, which forced Marian's grandfather Francesc to move to Girona.[4] It is there that his son and Marian's father, Francesc Vayreda i Busquets (1814-1870),[5] fell in love with Maria Rosa Vila i Galí (1817-?).[6] She was descendant to a far more prestigious local Vila Cavaller family,[7] holding a number of estates and owning Cavaller de Vidrà, an iconic Catalan mansion.[8]
The couple married in 1840 and in 1844 they settled in the reconstructed family house in Olot.[9] Francesc's maternal uncle was municipal military commander and Francesc possibly took part in activities against the local trabucaires.[10] He inherited estates co-possessed with his relatives[11] and is referred to as "propietario rentista".[12] As the two families maintained good relations, Francesc temporarily administered Porqueres holdings of his junior Vila nephews[13] and the Vila family periodically managed the Vayreda estates.[14] Francesc and Maria Rosa had 6 children, three of them becoming recognized figures. Apart from Marian, Joaquím (1843-1894) made his name as a painter and Estanislau (1848-1901) as a botanic.[15]
As a child Marían spent much of his time at the Cavaller de Vidrà estate,[16] later frequenting the Olot Padres Escolapios college;[17] following bachillerato he intended to study law in Barcelona.[18] The advent of Glorious Revolution of 1868 changed these plans and Marían settled for studying art in l'Escola de Dibuix d'Olot.[19] Around 1870[20] he joined the Carlist conspiracy[21] and at the outbreak of the Third Carlist War he entered the legitimist troops.[22] His exact war record is not clear. Most sources agree he remained on the Catalan Front; some claim he formed part of General Staff of Francesc Savalls,[23] not unlikely as his headquarters was in Cavaller de Vidrà.[24] Other sources note that Vayreda took part in combat, especially in the battles of d’Argelaguer and Prats de Lluçanés, and was wounded in action.[25] Shortly before defeat[26] and disguised as a peasant he made it to France.[27]
homage to Joaquim Vayreda, 1912
After a brief period in Séte[28] Vayreda studied painting in Paris, for 2 years frequenting the classes of Jean-Léon Gérôme.[29] Following the amnesty he returned to Spain and went on with art studies in l'Escola de Belles Arts in Barcelona. In 1878 he settled back in Olot, co-founding[30] El Arte Cristiano, a commercially successful workshop producing religious imagery.[31] In 1883 Vayreda married a geronina,[32] Pilar Aulet Soler (1871-1928).[33] The couple remained in the multi-family house in Olot;[34] in his mature years Vayreda was referred to as patricio, gran señor, a formal and serious man.[35] Marian and Pilar had 7 children.[36] The best known of them, Joaquím,[37] was a Traditionalist writer,[38] journalist[39] and local councilor[40] though he made his name mostly as an art critic;[41] also other children were active in Traditionalism.[42] His grandson tried his hand in painting.[43]Montserrat Vayreda was granddaughter of his brother.[44]
Political preferences of Vayreda's father remain unclear, but his maternal ancestors were firmly conservative and Carlist for already three generations.[45] Growing up in their Cavaller de Vidrà estate Marían was absorbing its Traditionalist rituals. Since 15 years of age he was already a regular subscriber of the Madrid-based La Esperanza, the neo-Catholic daily of an increasingly Carlist leaning; he also admitted juvenile fascination with earlier conservative political writings of Jaime Balmes.[46] Vayreda's enthusiastic teenage access to legitimist troops during the Third Carlist War came naturally, though some scholars claim that when reconstructing his motives 30 years later, instead of religious or conservative threads he rather pointed to Carlist defense of the furs and its doctrina regionalista.[47] Almost all authors dealing with his literary works underline that Marian was enormously affected by the wartime experience, though none of the sources consulted clarifies what the nature of that impact was in terms of his political outlook. Chaos and conflict in Carlist ranks,[48] brutality of civil warfare and bitterness of defeat have certainly deprived Vayreda of his juvenile zeal.[49]
In the early 1880s Carlism in Catalonia, like elsewhere in the country, remained in crisis, its outposts initially inactive and later painfully reconstructed. Nothing is known about Vayreda's engagement in re-emerging party structures following his return from exile; until the late 1880s there is no information about him either joining official party ranks or taking part in Carlist-sponsored initiatives. He re-approached the local Olot Circulo Tradicionalista by the end of the decade[50] and joined it formally in 1895.[51] Moreover, he entered local executive bodies, the same year becoming member of the comarcal Junta Tradicionalista.[52] According to his later ex-post declarations, the access did not result from attachment to Carlist dynastical claims; facilitated by traditionalist and religious outlook, it was intended primarily to reinforce the regionalist threads within the movement.[53]
Carlist standard
According to his contemporary Olot politicians Vayreda aspired to local party leadership,[54] but experience in its structures did not last long. His bid to format local Carlist political profile principally along regionalist lines failed. It was possibly thwarted by provincial authorities, as Vayreda lambasted them for ignoring regionalist fundaments of the Traditionalist program; moreover, he complained about political course incompatible with the spirit of the movement, smelling of "liberalism and authoritarianism".[55] In 1896 he formally left Circulo Tradicionalista. During last years of his life Vayreda's links with Carlism were lukewarm. When publishing his short literary pieces he preferred not to co-operate with Carlist periodicals. His political relations boiled down to occasional co-operation during electoral campaigns;[56] actually, Olot remained the most Carlist electoral district in Catalonia.[57] Above all, he contributed to the cause in his Carlism-flavored works, inducing some to call him "prohom de la causa".[58]
Vayreda explained his juvenile access to Carlism as motivated principally by its defense of traditional regional establishments and by its regionalist spirit, though scholars note that those ex-post declarations might have been burdened by backward extrapolation of his mature views and by his mitigating intentions.[59] It seems indisputable, however, that following the war his Carlism was getting watered down. Remaining within Traditionalist and Catholic framework, Vayreda's outlook was increasingly focused on regional identity and in the 1880s it was self-identified as "traditionalist regionalism".[60]
Though by no means natural, inevitable or typical,[61] Vayreda's shift from orthodox Carlist ideario to particular emphasis on only one of its components – regional identity – is considered representative for a group of Traditionalist militants from different parts of Spain.[62] In the post-war years it was possibly influenced by "ideologia de la muntanya" of Torras i Bages,[63] but assumed particular dynamics in the late 1880s, during campaign against the new Civil Code. In Olot it brought together people of different leanings, jointly with Vayreda forming the local Centre Catalanista and issuing its periodical, El Olotense (later l’Oloti);[64] Vayreda kept supporting the periodical throughout the 1890s. By the end of the decade he approached Unió Catalanista, though he is not known to have participated in its political endeavors.[65]
Vayreda's Catalan identity was heavily entrenched in conservative, Traditionalist, Catholic and anti-modern sense of regional self.[66] It did not stretch to embrace any sense of ethnic or national community.[67] This identity was expressed almost exclusively in cultural terms and nothing is known of his support for Catalan political ambitions, autonomy-centered or otherwise; he was also cautious to distance himself from Catalanism flavored by federal or republican ideas.[68] His vision of Catalonia was that of a spiritual entity epitomized by muntanya,[69] the vision coined by Balmes, rejuvenated by Torres i Bages and sang in poetry by Verdaguer.[70] Vayreda's death was painfully acknowledged by Unió Catalanista, Lliga de Catalunya, Lliga Regional and Foment Catalanista.[71]
Catalan standard
According to dedicated studies of Vayreda's political outlook he remained on intersection between Carlism and Catalanism;[72] some authors agree by maintaining that in mature years he settled for a possibilist compromise between the two.[73] Other scholars clam that he opted for "Catalunya clarament carlina",[74] declare that his Catalanism was recycled Carlism,[75] suggest that he left Carlism to join regionalism,[76] identify him as conservative regionalist absorbed by Catalanism[77] or simply as moderate Catalanist (unconscious Catalanist,[78]) with no mention of Carlism at all.[79] Those unwilling to dwell whether his Catalanism was enveloped in Carlism or whether it was rather the latter embedded in regional self settled for his late auto-definition of "tradicionalista regionalista".[80]
Painter
Paisaje de Olot
Vayreda kept painting through all of his adult life, though some scholars claim that in the mid-1890s he was gradually turning towards literature, either due to lack of public recognition[81] or following death of his brother.[82] His first picture discussed in literature is dated 1876,[83] the last one 1901;[84] total number of his works is unclear and it probably amounts (including sketches and unfinished ones) to few hundred.[85] Most of them are small[86] and very small[87] compositions bordering sketches, though his best known paintings are significant in size.[88] His ultimate technique was oil on canvas; minor works could be also charcoal or oil on cardboard;[89] the peculiarity of his method was preference for a studio instead of plein air; he composed paintings on basis of previous sketches and minor works.[90]
Vayreda is typically identified as a landscape painter[91] or as a costumbrista,[92] though his works fall into four major topic categories: landscapes, religion, history and customs, often combining some if not all of the above.[93] Landscapes are deeply set in the hilly Alt Garrotxa ambience, presenting local rural countryside with meticulous and accurate description. Featuring sunlighted sorted fields and wooded mountains they avoid any sign of decay or derangement. Despite what is described as their realism,[94] they deliver impression of perfect natural order;[95] due to neat and clean landscape contemporaries compared them to Japanese drawings.[96] Some value his landscapes higher than those of his brother Joaquím,[97] others deem them inferior.[98] In a number of paintings landscape is the setting for local rural scenes, always scrupulously implanted in local customs and never containing a tiny hint of discord.[99]
Religious and historical scenes are often presented in medieval architectural setting, usually also related to Alt Garrotxa;[100] it is reproduced with competent attention to detail,[101] though at times also with some creativity.[102] Historical paintings, tending to be academic in style, often reveal a sophisticated factual context;[103] they tend to focus on medieval history of Spain,[104] however initially Vayreda painted works also related to the Third Carlist War.[105] Religious works,[106] usually designed for private use[107] or for local sanctuaries,[108] reveal references – at times bordering quotations – to Italian Quattrocento;[109] contemporaries valued them for color and chiaroscuro refinement,[110] today they are appreciated for composition and context.[111]
Vayreda is considered member of the Olot School.[112] Far more than esthetic group emphasizing architectural patrimony, studying folklore or celebrating beauty of rural nature, the Olot painters shared the same holistic vision[113] and messianic understanding of art, intended to regenerate the society.[114] Some scholars claim it stemmed directly from Carlism and was its continuation by means of brush and paint.[115] Others see it as an attempt of conservative re-Catalanisation.[116] Most agree that its central theme, embodied in a number of symbolic representations,[117] was traditionalist vision of the region, confronting threatening modernity[118] by means of re-vindicating earth, religion and history.[119] In terms of artistic heritage, Vayreda and l’Escola d’Olot are considered related to vigatanisme,[120] the Barbizon school,[121] the Nazarenes,[122] the Pre-Raphaelites[123] and other minor groups.[124]
Though his 1888 literary debut was in Spanish,[125] since 1890 Vayreda was publishing short stories in Catalan,[126] printed – also under pen-names[127] – in regional periodicals.[128] Often set in the recent war, they were gaining popularity among readers; encouraged, in 1895 Vayreda started to participate in local literary competitions and turned out to be fairly successful.[129] He wrote also few unedited poems.[130]
In 1898 he published his first major work, Recorts de la darrera carlinada, a set of 14 carefully arranged stories from the Third Carlist War.[131] Lively narrated in 1st person[132] with declared intention to provide "veritat essencial", they differ in spirit[133] and are heterogeneous in style,[134] but assembled together acknowledged crude brutality of the war.[135] Though the book occasionally contained some nostalgic Carlist tone, it refrained from political proselytism; few scholars even see a dose of cynicism.[136] Some present-day critics compare Recorts to war stories of Hemingway and Babel;[137] others consider Vayreda's stories his best work and declare him master of short prose.[138]
Sanch nova (1900)[139] is a contemporary novel set in Alt Garrotxa ambience[140] and focusing on confrontation between modern liberal spirit and traditionalist virtues,[141] embodied in a protagonist, a Catalan priest.[142] Contemporaries hailed Sanch as "novella nacional" of Catalonia[143] or "verdader simbol de Catalunya renaixent",[144] declaring the author "primer novellista del renaixement".[145] Currently it is viewed as overburdened with didactics and ideology,[146] declared anachronistic pamphlet[147] and utopian idealization of inner Catalonia, represented by mountainous lifestyle pitted against degradation of new society.[148] The "new blood" in title is nothing but established rural outlook; the book is labeled compendium of traditionalist regionalism[149] or even Vayreda's political testament.[150]
La punyalada
La Punyalada[151] was published posthumously in 1904; though probably missing final touch of the author,[152] it is widely considered his best work which gained Vayreda prominent place in history of the Catalan literature;[153] the novel itself is acclaimed as one of the best works ever written in Catalan.[154] Set in the early 1840s it tells a rural love story against the background of Alt Garrotxa life troubled by local bandits, the trabucaires.[155] It was originally classified as "novela ferrena",[156] "novela objectiva"[157] or "novela historica",[158] though currently scholars focus rather on psychological dimension[159] and ideological undertones;[160] they note exceptional quality of personalities,[161] intriguing narrative technique,[162] putting nature as a protagonist[163] and efficient use of symbols.[164] Though some scholars claim that apparent absence of politics and ideology is sort of credo itself,[165] others maintain that Punyalada contains a veiled political discourse, with one protagonist representing the evil side of Carlism and another one its attractive face.[166]
As a writer Vayreda is not clearly associated with any specific literary group. Some of his contemporaries considered him late follower of Walter Scott school;[167] others noted lack of romantic gloom and underlining at times bestial brutality[168] put Vayreda next to scandalizing naturalists like Casellas or Victor Catala.[169] Hints at modernism[170] and symbolism[171] are not uncommon. However, according to the most popular lineup Vayreda is first and foremost a protagonist of the Catalan literary Renaixença,[172] the author who died just when reaching literary maturity.[173]
Reception and legacy
Vayreda ca. 1903
Some sources claim that Vayreda was disappointed by limited success of his paintings; displayed at Catalan and Madrid galleries, they enjoyed polite acknowledgement falling short of universal acclaim, let alone fame.[174] He gained some popularity with stories published in the 1890s, but it was Recorts and Sanch nova which earned him general recognition shortly before death. Vayreda did not live to see success of La Punyalada both among the readers and the critics. Riding the wave of growing Catalanism in first decades of the 20th century the novel was declared its iconic literature, though second edition appeared as late as 1921.[175] Vayreda was acknowledged in history of Catalan literature during the Republic,[176] though it is not clear how many of his paintings were burnt down during takeover of Olot by Republican militia in the summer of 1936.[177] He became sort of officially celebrated artist during Francoism, which maintained silence on his Catalan penchant but emphasized the Traditionalist leaning instead. Punyalada enjoyed its third edition in 1947 and Recorts the second one in 1950.[178] Centenary of his birth was observed in 1953: Olot declared him hijo ilustre[179] and staged appropriate sessions,[180] while periodicals – including the Falangist ¡Arriba España! – published homage articles.[181] In the 1960s a hall in the Olot ajuntament building was named after Vayreda and in 1966 the council established Mariano Vayreda literary prize;[182] some cities honored him with appropriate street names.
Vayreda received sort of literary canonization after the fall of Francoism, the process commenced by História de la literatura catalana of Riquer, Comas and Molas[183] and continued in numerous academic books, scholarly reviews and popular press items. Since 1980 La Punyalada was published 7 times[184] and served as script for a 1990 movie,[185] which became sort of an icon itself.[186] A tourist trail following La Punyalada plot was marked in the Pyrenees[187] and Vayreda's life was even treated in a children's cartoon.[188] He remains portrayed as one of the all-time masters of Catalan literature,[189] the process climaxing in massive centenary celebrations – covering both his literary works and paintings – of 2003.[190] A dedicated study of his elevation process suggests that it was a perfect example of critical literary reception serving as a function of ideological scheme, namely as agent of Catalan nation-building.[191]
Casa Vayreda in Olot
Scholarly works on Vayreda's outlook as expressed in his art and political activities suggests that he can hardly be considered an obvious forerunner of Catalan nationalism, that he can not be portrayed as example of a natural shift towards it, and that such approach involves a not insignificant dose of distortion.[192] In an alternative perspective offered, emergent modern Catalanism was a competitive vision that he actually opposed. Considered within this framework, L’Escola d’Olot ultimately failed when attempting to implant its vision of Catalunya muntanyenca,[193] the rural land of mountains and forests, entrenched in pairalismo culture[194] and spiritually set between Jansenism, Traditionalism and Enlightenment.[195] Most critics referred to it as idealized, paternalistic utopia, Arcadia or paradise lost,[196] though some claim to have found sadomasochist[197] and homosexual[198] threads in his writings.
↑ not to be confused with Maria Vayreda i Trullol, also a Catalan writer, granddaughter of his brother
↑ there is some confusion as to spelling of Vayreda's first name. His novels when published were attributed to "Marian", compare the original cover of La Punyalada, available here; this is probably how he preferred to refer to himself. Contemporary press (be it in Spanish or in Catalan) unanimously referred to him as "Mariano", compare La Ilustración española y americana 30.06.84, available here or La Veu del Montserrat 19.03.83, available here or La Ilustración Artistica 18.07.98, available here. Later Catalan publications repeated the "Marian" spelling, see El Dever 27.06.36, available here[permanent dead link], retained also in Spanish-language publications of Francoism, compare ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53, available here[permanent dead link]. Present-day Catalan publications adhere mostly to the "Marià" spelling, though there are exceptions, compare Francesc Serés, L’Escola d’Olot, apunts per a una estética, [in:] Revista del Girona 7/8 (2006). According to current Catalan orthography rules, both "Marià" and "Marian" are correct, see Maria Dasca Batalla, L’efeméride efimera. L’any Mariá Vayreda (2003), [in:] Anuari Verdaguer 12 (2004), p. 232
↑ Mariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67, available here
↑ Joaquim Vayreda i Vila, [in:] El punt avui 22.10.09, available here
↑ in 1835 he was 21, see Joaquim Vayreda i Vila, [in:] El punt avui 22.10.09; he died when Marian was 21, Joan Requesens i Pique, La muntanya, un concepte de partia en la Renaixença, [in:] Annuari Verdaguer 1988, p. 84
↑ Ignasi Terradas Saborit, El cavaller de Vidrà: de l'ordre i el desordre conservadors a la muntanya catalana, Montserrat 2000, ISBN8472028569. p. 88
↑ Terradas Saborit 2000, p. 12; the Vila and Cavaller families were noted in early medieval documents; the estate passed from Cavaller to Vila family in 1640, Terradas Saborit 2000, pp. 35-36
↑ Joaquim Vayreda i Vila, [in:] El punt avui 22.10.09
↑ the area was terrorised by bandits, named bandoleros or trabucaires, Joan Pagés i Pons, Les Preses en el període entre la primera i la darrera carlinada, 1840-1872, [in:] Annals del Patronat d'Estudis Històrics d'Olot i Comarca 1989, pp 135-146. The maternal uncle of Marian’s father, Llorenç de Trinxerua, was comandant d’armes of Olot
↑ Vayreda later grew to manager of the company. Comfortable in all the spheres, religious, business, labour and artistic, and was contributed to expansion of the company. It focused on sculptures; the first were unique, one-off pieces, most likely made out of clay. Later the workshop started to use cardboard wood, a material that would revolutionise production. Gradually El Arte Cristiano solidified its prestige all over the world, and for twenty years it was the ground-breaking and only religious imagery workshop in Olot, compare Museu del Sants d’Olot service, available here
↑ in the building hosting also the manufacture and currently serving as Museum of Saints
↑ D. Mariano Vayreda Vila - Bio-bibliografía esquemática [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53, Rafael Torrent, El pintor costumbrista, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53, Eduardo Cuellas Bassols, "Records de la darrera carlinada", de Marian Vayreda, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 06.09.52, available here[permanent dead link]
↑ Marian Vayreda Vila (Olot, 1853 - 1903), [in:] Museu del Sants d’Olot service, Mariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67
↑ born 1890, died 1969, see La Vanguardia 03.01.69, available here
↑ see Vayreda i Aulet, Joaquim entry [in:] Biblioteca de Catalunya service, available here[permanent dead link]; his dramas were played in Catalan theatres in the 1920s, see La Vanguardia 26.06.21, available here
↑ he headed the Tradició Catalana periodical, La Tradició Catalana 01.02.19, available here[permanent dead link]
↑ in the 1920s, La Vanguardia 01.04.1930, available here
↑ Enric Jardí, 1000 famílies catalanes: la cultura, Barcelona 1977, p. 74
↑ Luis Vayreda i Aulet was detained by the police in 1913, La Vanguardia 22.11.13, available here; Concepción Vayreda i Aulet (1897-1981, see La Vanguardia 14.06.81, available here) was active in Patronato de Obreros in 1932, La Vanguardia 09.06.32, available here. Maria de los Dolores Vayreda i Aulet died young in 1928, La Vanguardia 03.04.28, available here, which might have contributed to the death of her mother 3 monthts later. Nothing is known of Eugenio Vayreda i Aulet (1894-1964), ¡Arriba España! 15.02.64, available here[permanent dead link]
↑ in her poem "Vayredas" the strophe dedicated to Marian reads: "I Marià, glossà la Carlinada / amb records vívids. En La Punyalada / la ploma manejà com un pinzell", quoted after Montserrat Vayreda, La nissaga dels Vayreda, [in:] Revista de Girona 166 (1994), p. 94
↑ see Terradas Saborit 2004, especially the chapter Les generacions del carslime, pp. 91-94
↑ Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 235, 'Mariano Vayr'eda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67
↑ Jordi Canal, ¿En busca del precedente perdido? Tríptico sobre las complejas relaciones entre carlismo y catalanismo a fines del siglo XIX, [in:] Historia y Politica 14 (2005), p. 66
↑ upon enlisting Vayreda was given a rifle, but an old and unusable one, D. Mariano Vayreda Vila - Bio-bibliografía esquemática [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53
↑ he admits that "fortunately, I have kept faith in God, but faith in the men and their things received very strong setbacks", quoted after Vicanç Pagés Jordá, "Records de la darrera carlinada" - Marià Vayreda, [in:] vicencpagesjorda service, available here
↑ Berga entered Circulo Tradicionalista of Olot in 1889, Canal 2005, p. 61, Jordi Canal i Morell, Banderas blancas, boinas rojas: una historia política del carlismo, 1876-1939, Madrid 2006, ISBN9788415817925, p. 213
↑ Jordi Canal, Marian Vayreda, entre el carlisme i el catalánisme, [in:] Revista de Girona 225 (2004), p. 43
↑ literally, he considered Vayreda "aspirante a jefe del tradicionalismo o regionalismo (no tengo certeza a cual de las dos jefaturas aspira)", quoted after Canal 2005, p. 61
↑ Canal 2004, p. 44, Canal 2005, p. 60, Canal 2006, p. 212
↑ an expert scholar claims Carlism can by no means be considered pre-Catalanism and there was no natural or obvious choice for those trapped between the two idearios, Canal 2005, p. 57; however, at another point the author same claims that confrontation between Carlism and Catalanism was "inevitable", Canal 2005, p. 67
↑ other comparable cases were those of a Cantabrian José María de Pereda, a Gallego Alfredo Brañas and a Basque Daniel Irujo, Canal 2005, pp. 62-6, Canal 2006, pp. 214-9
↑ Requesens i Pique 1988, p. 84, also Francesc Roma i Casanovas, Del Paradís a la Nació: la muntanya a Catalunya, segles XV-XX, Valls 2004, ISBN8497910818, p. 236
↑ Canal 2005, p. 60, Canal 2006, p. 212, Dasca Batalla 2004, pp. 234-5
↑ in political terms related to corporativism, limited suffrage and organic representation, Josep Termes, Augustí Colomines, Patriotes i resistents. Història del primer catalanisme, Barcelona, 2003, ISBN9788485031214, Illas 2004, p. 95
↑ though his work is classified as contributing – unintentionally or possibly even against Vayreda’s intentions - to the Catalan national cause, Illas 2004, pp. 95-96
↑ Vayreda underlined that he was attached to the region because of tradition, while the federalists opted for the region as the best rational choice, Canal 2005, p. 60, Canal 2006, p. 212
↑ characteristically, he made no note about maritime Catalonia, possibly considered the heartland of mercantile and modernist spirit
↑ El Montanyench 22.02.03, available ; no condolences from Carlist organizations were reported
↑ "A finales del siglo XIX se había formado un espacio intersectivo entre los movimientos carlistas y catalanistas que complicaba mucho las relaciones entre unos y otros. El caso de Marià Vayreda apuntaba ya, en buena parte, en este sentido. El catalanismo no se instaló al lado de las tradiciones políticas y las formaciones del arco político catalán pre-existentes, sino que las cortó transversalmente. […] Por esta razón, en el caso del carlismo no sorprendían denominaciones como tradicionalismo regionalista o carlismo catalanista", Jordi Canal, El carlismo. Dos siglos de contrarrevolución en España, Madrid 2004, ISBN9788420639475, p. 222
↑ Miquel Angel Fumanal i Pagès, Presència de l'art medieval en la pintura de Marian Vayreda i Vila, [in:] Annals del Patronat d'Estudis Històrics d'Olot i Comarca 15 (2005), p. 94
↑ Vayreda i Vila, Marian, [in:] espaisescrits service, available here
↑ commencing literary career with some frustration, Marian Vayreda. Biografia [in:] Accociació d’escriptors en llengua catalana service
↑ Mariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67
↑ Lluitant a la Plaça, Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 101
↑ Èxtasi de Santa Rosalia, Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 102
↑ professional catalogue lists some 200 objects, see across Fumanal i Pagès 2005
↑ like Paisaje y cazadores, 55x42 cm, see Arcadja auction service, available here
↑ e.g. an undated Paisaje, 11.5x18.5cm, see Arcadja auction service
↑ Un combregar a muntanya is 225x161 cm, Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 93
↑ Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 98, Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 239
↑ compare Mariano Vayreda [in:] invaluable auction service, available here; this is also how he referred to himself, e.g. in his article Peripécies d’un paisatgista en busca de son ideal (1896)
↑ Rafael Torrent, El pintor costumbrista, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53
↑ Marian Vayreda. Biografia [in:] Accociació d’escriptors en llengua catalana service, some claim the 3 leading themes were costumbrisme, religion and history, Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 239
↑ by his contemporaries and present day scholars alike. The former saw his paintings as "brillantes manifestaciones de la escuela realista", related to the school of Rusiñol, Casas and Galvey, La Ilustración 04.05.90, available here. The latter underline his "meticulous, precise description of the visual landscape and his knowledge of the tiniest details in the environment and characters" and "clear realism", Museu del Sants service
↑ not all critics agreed. Some were anxious to see how he managed to combined religious threads with disturbing naturalism, asking "En este punto asáltame una duda que no me atrevería á resolver de plano por mi mismo á Vayreda que, á más de muy artista es muy religioso, ¿no teme que, tratándose, al fin y al cabo de cosas sagradas cual es la conducción del Viático parezca su detalle tan natural sobrado naturalista?", La Dinastia 21.04.87, available here
↑ according to Francesc Fontbona, "More than the landscape that his brother painted, Marian Vayreda is interested in the content of the landscape. For this reason, in his paintings and writings he narrates life in La Garrotxa and narrates it with a clear realism", Museu del Sants service
↑ Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 233; some paintings were produced jointly by Marian and his brother Joaquím; the former painted figures and the latter painted landscapes, Jose Maria Mir Mas de Xexas, Mariano Vayreda Vila [in:] ¡Arriba España! 23.12.67, available here, Mariano Vayreda i Vila, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 04.11.67
↑ Viático (1887), Puesta de sol (1898), Musico ambulante (?), Cortejo (?), or Las bugaderas (Las lavanderas), the last one painted jointly with his brother, see visitmuseum service available here; possibly also a highly symbolic Quietud (or Repòs) counts here
↑ most architectural objects present on his paintings can be identified, though in some cases like Ball del Gambeto, a Ridaura it seems not possible. Vayreda sometimes re-composed earlier sketches according to his liking
↑ architecture gave credibility to his religious and historical scenes like in Oració or provided composition framework like in Quietud or Repòs en el claustre del Monestir de Sous. They are "realistic" only up to a point, since in some cases Vayreda enhanced or re-composed them, Fumanal i Pagès 2005, pp. 98-99
↑ when suiting his composition or other needs; loose and creative approach to architecture, making it difficult to name him a "realist", is demonstrated in Recared abjurant l’arrianisme (1889), El rei Sisenand en el Concili IV de Toledo, presidit per Sant Isidor (1899) Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 104-105
↑ like the canvas for carmelitan convent in Olot, referring to the 1332 foundation of the order, or Cap d’Estopa, picturing events of 1082, Mir Mas de Xexas 1967
↑ e.g. El mercader de catifes (1879), El claustre (1878), Recared abjurant l’arrianisme (1889), El rei Sisenand en el Concili IV de Toledo, presidit per Sant Isidor (1899), Cap d’Estopa
↑ Lluitant a la Plaça (1876), Els darrers honors en el cementiri de Lladó
↑ Santa Rosalia, Èxtasi de Santa Rosalia (both 1901)
↑ he painted pictures designed for family chapel in the new Olot Villa of Prat de Vall, following removal from the previous Villa del Ser residence, Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 97-8
↑ e.g. pictures presenting life of San José de Calasanz and San Pompillo Pirrotti in Padres Escolapios in Olot, Jose Maria Mir Mas de Xexas 1967, and canvases intended for monastyr of Sant Esteve de Banyoles, Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 98
↑ they reveal homages to Masaccio, Masolino, Andrea del Castagno, Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca and Andrea Mantegna, Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 98
↑ especially the forests and mountains, see Requesens i Pique 1988, pp. 77-101. Also the contemporaries noted it, discussed in case of Reposo as follows: "Al pastorcillo que ha buscado el descanso propio y el de sus ovejas entre las ruinas de un antiguo templo, Vayreda lo coloca como figura yacente de un derruido sarcófago: lo pasado y lo presente, el fué y el es, unidos en una solanota, como para darnos á comprender lo veloz del tiempo, como para hacernos ver que lo presente, si bien lo analizamos, no existe, pues apenas llega ya pasó"
↑ some say he tended to accept modernity given it does not get in the way of traditional values, Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 235
↑ Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 239, Its intention was to recreate Catalonia as a Muntanya along the lines of Jaime Balmes, Canal 2005, p. 59, Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 234
↑ in terms of attention to detail, focus on rural life and customs, but without Barbizon-typical emphasis on hardship and poverty, Serés 2006, p. 44
↑ in terms of orthodox focus on religious themes; the Nazarane threads passed by Claudi Lorenzale i Sugrañes, Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 235
↑ in terms of attention to detail, nature, and art as a refuge, Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 239
↑ like Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc and Manuel Milà i Fontanals group, Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 236
↑ Una velada ... cursi, in El Montsacopa, published under the pen-name Francisco, Antónia Tayadella, L’atzavara no floreix fins que velleja. Approximació a la trajectoria literária de Mariá Vayreda, [in:] Estudis de llengua i literatura catalanes vol. 6, Barcelona 1993, ISBN8478264582, p. 154
↑ the first story published was L’avia Tita in L’Oloti in 1890, though the first one written was El roure de penjats, published in La Veu de Catalunya in 1891, Tayadella 1993, pp. 153-5
↑ like Tarik, M.V. or A.B.C, Antònia Tayadella, Sobre literatura del segle XIX, Barcelona 2013, ISBN9788447536214, p. 279
↑ the first one to be mentioned is L’Oloti, until 1890 appearing as El Olotense (note the change of language from Spanish to Catalan), the review he co-founded in 1887 and published by Centre Catalanista d’Olot, Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 235. Until 1895 Vayreda was publishing only in local Olot or Girona periodicals, starting that year he was first published in a Barcelona review. He published in La Renaixença, La Veu de Catalunya, Catalunya Artística, Joventut, Revista Olotense, L’Oloti, Sanch Nova, Luz, La Ilustració Llevantina, Catalunya Artistica, La Ilustració Catalana, Cu-Cut!, see Tayadella 2013, p. 290-4
↑ Tayadella 2013, pp. 280-282, Tayadella 1993, pp. 156-159
↑ David Prats, Dues poesies inèdites de Marià Vayreda, [in:] Revista de Girona 183 (1997), pp. 32-34
↑ probably partially based either on his own experience or on accounts of his fellow Carlist combatants, Illas 2004, p. 90; it seems that only few are entirely autobiographical and some are rather styled as fables, Antònia Tayadella, La novella realista, [in:] Joaquim Molas, Martin Riquer, (eds.), Història de la Literatura Catalana vol. 7, Barcelona 1986, ISBN p. 532
↑ though they were not styled as personal memoirs of the author; story-telling is framed within a literary narrative model. Despite this, usually critics have no reservations about attributing opinions expressed by narrator to Vayreda himself, compare Canal 2005, p. 58
↑ they range from descriptive (Bateig de foc) to grotesque (La xocolatera) to dramatic (Desesperació), with different protagonist characters dominating, like a disguised girl (El valencianet) or soldier who joked when dying (El Noi del’Alou). The two stories considered best are La barreja and L’Esquadró de la Sang, Vicanç Pagés Jordá, "Records de la darrera carlinada" - Marià Vayreda, [in:] vicencpagesjorda service
↑ Antònia Tayadella, La novel•la realista, [in:] Història de la Literatura Catalana, vol. 7, Barcelona 1986, p. 532
↑ Vicanç Pagés Jordá, "Records de la darrera carlinada" - Marià Vayreda, [in:] vicencpagesjorda service; the author draws parallels with dandyism of some Oscar Wilde’s protagonists and with western movies featuring Clint Eastwood
↑ Vicanç Pagés Jordá, "Records de la darrera carlinada" - Marià Vayreda, [in:] vicencpagesjorda service
↑ according to some, Vayreda is master of sentences rather than chapters, Vicanç Pagés Jordá, "Records de la darrera carlinada" - Marià Vayreda, [in:] vicencpagesjorda service
↑ Illas 2004, p. 90, Canal 2005, p. 62. Anti-urban trend was by no means atypical for Carlist culture, compare Francisco Javier Caspistegui Gorasurreta, “Esa ciudad maldita, cuna del centralismo, la burocracia y el liberalismo”: la ciudad como enemigo en el tradicionalismo español, [in:] Actas del congreso internacional "Arquitectura, ciudad e ideología antiurbana", Pamplona 2002, ISBN8489713510, pp. 71-86
↑ some critics point to inconsistencies in narration, Maurici Serrahima, Maria Teresa Boada, La novella històrica en la literatura catalana, Montserrat 1996, ISBN9788478267712, p. 135
↑ though some consider it overrated, Vicanç Pagés Jordá, "Records de la darrera carlinada" - Marià Vayreda, [in:] vicencpagesjorda service
↑ "en un dels lloca més alts, si no el més alt, de la novella catalana" Serrahima, Boada 1996, p. 140
↑ possibly based on family experience, accounted by author’s father, Serrahima, Boada 1996, p. 129
↑ after Els sots feréstecs of Casellas; also Solitud of Victor Catala is counted here; other scholars underline key differences between Vayreda and Casellas and Victor Catala: the latter dazzle the reader with brutality, while in case of Vayreda it is merely a byproduct of narrative composition; the latter focus on literary effects while Vayreda is purely narrative; most importantly, the latter pursue a sour vision of life, while Vayreda is tilted towards Christian balance, Serrahima, Boada 1996, pp. 140-141, also Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 94
↑ opinion of Joaquim Ruyra referred after M. Lluïsa Julià i Capdevila, Joaquim Ruyra, narrador, Barcelona 1992, ISBN847826308X, p. 138
↑ Tayadella 1986, p. 538, Alan Yates, Una generació sense novella? La novella catalana entre 1900 i 1925, Barcelona 1975, ISBN9788429711042, p. 89, Francesc Serés, Marian Vayreda o el manifest pictòric, [in:] Serra d'Or 528 (2003), p. 58, Jordi Castellanos, "La punyalada", els clarobscurs de la novella dels trabucaires, [in:] Serra d'Or 528 (2003), p. 51
↑ including secondary characters, Serrahima, Boada 1996, p. 138
↑ the story is accounted in 1st person, which implies no omnipresence and renders the reading intriguing, with incomprehensive behaviour, mysteries, doubts and unanswered questions
↑ L’Ibo (with his masculine appeal attractive as it may seem) stands for wild non-reflexive violence, Albert (with his apparent timidity and indecision) stands for order, family values and religion, Canal 2000, p. 123, his also Carlisme i catalanisme a la fi del segle XIX. Notes sobre unes relacions complexes, [in:] Le discours sur la nation en Catalogne aux XIXe et XXe siècles. Hommage à Antoni M. Badia i Margarit, Paris 1995, pp. 211-230. For other scholars the discourse is rather between traditional regionalism (Albert) and reactionary violence (l’Ibo), Illas 2004, p. 94. Some students declare La Punyalada a novel written by a Carlist, see Josep Miralles Clement, Aspectos de la cultura política del carlismo en el siglo XX, [in:] Espacio, Tiempo y Forma 17 ( 2005), p. 155
↑ Joaquim Ruyra referred after Julià i Capdevila 1992, p. 138. Contemporary scholars maintain that Vayreda’s writing can be counted among none of the historical novel schools, be it the romantic gloom of Walter Scott, arecheologic verism of Flaubert, neo-romanticism of Sienkiewicz or scientific penchant of Ebers, Serrahima, Boada 1996, p. 128
↑ e.g. in La Punyalada the protagonists literally bite each other’s throats when fighting
↑ Serrahima, Boada 1996, pp. 140-141, also Fumanal i Pagès 2005, p. 94
↑ with special reference to Catalan "muntanya", forests and architecture, Requesens i Pique 1988, p. 84
↑ in line with his writings adhere to the formula "Cantem massa i parlem poc" of Jaume Collell, Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 235; see also opinions of Illas 2004, p. 95, Fumanal i Pages 2005, p. 94, Requesens i Pique 1988, p. 84, Casacuberta 2003, p. 49, Tayadella 2013, pp. 277-294, Serahima, Boada 1996, pp. 125-143; this opinion was shared also during early Francoism, see José Munteis Braçons, Notas sobre la literatura de Mariano Vayreda, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53
↑ Marian Vayreda. Biografia [in:] Accociació d’escriptors en llengua catalana service; exact cause of his death at the age of 50 is not given by any source consulted
↑ see La Veu de Montserrat, 19.05.83, available here , La Ilustración española y americana 30.06.84, available here, La Ilustración artistica 18.07.98, available here
↑ D. Mariano Vayreda Vila - Bio-bibliografía esquemática [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53
↑ key works destroyed were Recared abjurant l’arrianisme and El rei Sisenand en el Concili IV de Toledo, presidit per Sant Isidor, Fumanal i Pagès 2005, pp. 104-105
↑ D. Mariano Vayreda Vila - Bio-bibliografía esquemática [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53
↑ ¡Arriba España! 31.12.53, available here[permanent dead link], La Vanguardia 03.03.54, available here, La Vanguardia 05.03.54, available here
↑ Rafael Torrent, El pintor constumbrista, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53; in the one-page article there is not a single reference to Catalonia; see also José Munteis Bracons, Notas sobre la literatura de Mariano Vayreda, [in:] ¡Arriba España! 12.12.53
↑ Marian Vayreda. Biografia [in:] Accociació d’escriptors en llengua catalana service
↑ in 1980, 1984, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2004 and 2014, see Vayreda, Maria (1853-1903), [in:] IdRef service, available here
↑ compare La Punyalada in IMDB film database, available here; entire film is available on YouTube service here (part 1) and here (part 2)
↑ compare Comencen els actes per commemorar els 25 anys de "La Punyalada" [in:] Olotcultura service, available hereArchived 2015-06-28 at the Wayback Machine
↑ L’auca d’en Vayreda, [in:] La paret de les auques service, available here
↑ also recognised as painter, see Joan Sala, La pintura a Olot al segle XIXè, Berga i Boix i els germans Vayreda, [PhD thesis University of Barcelona 1990], Joan Serés, Recepció i context estètic en l’obra de Marian Vayreda, [in:] AADD 2003, pp. 32-41, Narcís Selles, Marià Vayreda i els corrents estètics a Olot (1877-1903) [unpublished study submitted to Beca Ciutat d’Olot en Ciències Humanes i Socials, 1984]
↑ In 1984 L'editorial Selecta of Barcelona published Vayreda’s Obra completa. 2003-4 as centenary of his death brought about a number of initiatives, re-editions, articles and expositions, like the ones in Institució de les Lletres Catalanes, Museu Comarcal de la Garrotxa (Olot), Fontana d'Or (Girona), Casa de Cultura (Girona) and Sala d'exposicions (Olot), Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 232
↑ Canal 2005, p. 60-3 Canal 2006, pp. 213-5. See also comparison between the original La Punyalada and the 1990 film, revealing a number of differences. One of them relates to Carlism; the film strongly enhanced the link between the Carlists and the bandits. Carlist threads are associated with scenes of oppression, cruelty and cowardice, e.g. when tormenting the hostage, the bandits make him sing the Carlist anthem Oriamendi. This scene is invented; Vayreda would have not written it not only because of his Carlist leaning, but also because it is entirely anarchronistic (originally Oriamendi was sung only in Basque; the Spanish lyrics allegedly sung by the bandits in the 1840s was in fact written by Ignacio Baleztena in 1908). Also the scene of the former Carlist commander turned bandits’ leader struck by a bullet, falling down the abyss and shouting "Visca el Rei" is invented and missing in chapter XXI of the book. Compare Berta Lluis Vila, "La Punyalada": comparacio de la novella amb la pellicula [research paper IES], Olot 2010
↑ relative success of vigatanisme is contrasted with failure of Escola d’Olot in terms of contributing to the Catalan identity. Canal 2005, p. 59. Its contribution to history of art and culture is rather considered as introducing nature as a potagonist, providing a link between local and European trends and developing a holistic concept, merging economic, religious, political, social, cultural threads, Serés 2006, p. 45
↑ for detailed discussion of Vayreda and pairalisme, the social, cultural and economic concept of land heritage patterns, see Terradas i Saborit 1987, especially the chapter Maria Vayreda i el pairalisme, pp. 388-397
↑ Margarida Casacuberta, Marian Vareda, un escriptor entre dos segles, [in:] Catáleg de l’Exposició Antológica de Marian Vayreda i Vila, Olot 2003; Josep Gordi Serrat, L'evolució del paisatge forestal a les terres gironines a la segona meitat de segle XX, Barcelona 2015, ISBN9788492707300 (no page available, see here); Dasca Batalla 2004, p. 235
↑ "la investigación audaz de rasgos eróticos y sado-masoquistas en las relaciones humanas", Illas 2004, p. 92
Assumpció Bernal, Psicologisme i novel.la al segle XIX: El cas de María Vayreda, [in:] Quaderns de filologia. Estudis literaris 5 (2000), pp.155–170
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Narcís Selles, Marià Vayreda i els corrents estètics a Olot (1877-1903) [unpublished study submitted to Beca Ciutat d’Olot en Ciències Humanes i Socials, 1984]
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Miguel Junyent Rovira (1871–1936) was a Spanish Catalan publisher and politician. He is best known as director of El Correo Catalán, the newspaper he periodically owned and managed between 1903 and 1933. As a politician he was active within Carlism; he remained the regional Catalan party leader in 1915-1916 and in 1919–1933. He twice served in the Cortes, in 1907-1910 as member of the Congress of Deputies and in 1918-1919 as member of the Senate. He is counted among moderate Carlists, who favored alliance with conservative Catalanists and opposed the violent faction within his party.
Teodoro de Mas y Nadal (1858–1936) was a Spanish engineer and politician. He contributed to the development of railway, road, hydrological and energy infrastructure, mostly in Catalonia, though also in other regions of Spain and in Argentina. Politically he supported the Traditionalist cause. Prior to 1919 and after 1931 he remained active in the Carlist ranks; in 1917-1919 he was member of the regional Catalan party executive. In the 1920s he headed regional Catalan structures of the breakaway Traditionalist grouping known as the Mellistas.
Anna Manel·la or Anna Manel·la i Llinàs was a Spanish and Catalan sculptor and painter. She was known for her figures representing lost childhood. In 2022, the Museu de la Garrotxa devoted a monographic exhibition to her work: "If I could. Anna Manel·la (1950-2019)." Also in 2022, a group of friends published the book Anna Manel·la. La dona i el mur, which is a compilation of texts discussing the artist's life and works.
The 2024 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 12 May 2024, to elect the 15th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
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