Joan Cardona was a Spanish painter and illustrator who was an important figure of the Belle Époque aesthetics. He was trained in Barcelona and furthered his studies in Paris, where he settled for several years. In the French capital, he formed a group with the best illustrators of the time and achieved international fame thanks to his pen drawings. He collaborated with Spanish and French magazines and developed an important activity in the field of illustration.

In his painting, he subordinated line to color, with warm tones in his early years and cold ranges in his maturity. His paintings, of great expressive force and dense impasto, define the leading role of the woman, who is outlined against vibrant, almost abstract backgro...