Adrià Gual i Queralt

He began his training in his father's lithograph workshop, which he ran until 1901, when he decided to dedicate himself to the theatre. In 1888 he entered Pere Borrell's Academy and during his student days began writing his first plays.
He was a member of La Colla del Safrà (Saffron Gang), and as a young man did paintings of a Naturalist kind. Painting, though, was not his main artistic activity, and he focused more on poster design and plays.
In 1896 he published his first book, Nocturn (Nocturne), for which he not only wrote the text, but also did the illustrations and designed the cover, which helped to make a name for himself. A year later, together with M. Utrillo and others, he founded the magazine Luz, which he edited. He also worked as an illustrator for various magazines such as Joventut and Hojas Selectas and did the illustrations for several books by his contemporaries. During this same period, however, he continued his activity as a painter, associating art and literature, as, for example, in his work La rosada (The Dew, 1897; MNAC collection).
His early work as a poster designer is in a rather excessively ornate and Symbolist style, but later evolved towards a more intimate style free of ornamentation.
He worked as artistic director of Sala Mercè (Rambla, 122; no longer in existence), by L. Graner.
As time passed he gradually moved away from painting to concentrate on the theatre, a field in which he stood out for his innovations. He founded the Teatre Íntim (1898), where he put on plays by Goethe, Molière, Ibsen, Shakespeare, Maragall, Guimerà, etc. In 1913 he was appointed director of the Catalan School of Dramatic Art and was artistic director of the film production company Barcinógrafo, with which he made several films in the drama genre.