Lluís Bonnín i Martí

A member of a family originally from Majorca and a dynasty of silversmiths going back four generations, he dedicated himself to jewellery, a field in which he showed signs of great technical mastery, although he also stood out as an illustrator.
He began as a jeweller in his father's workshop and later attended La Llotja, the Barcelona School of Fine Arts. After gaining an honourable mention at the 1896 Fine Arts Exhibition, he began to work as an illustrator for magazines such as Barcelona Cómica (1897) and Hispania (1899-1901), producing drawings of extremely elegant women contrasted with rather grotesque characters.
During this period he took part with some of his drawings in the first exhibition held at Els Quatre Gats (Montsió, 3 bis) and in the shadow plays in the same establishment.
Around 1900, for reasons that are unknown, he moved to Nice to work in a jewellery workshop which he later inherited.
His best work as an illustrator was for the poem Boires baixes (Low Mists) by J.M. Roviralta, which is regarded as an example of the Modernista aesthetic in practice.
He returned to Barcelona only once before his death.