Esther Boix

Llers, 1927 – Anglès, 2014

She was born in Llers on March 26, 1927. Her childhood was marked by the polio she contracted in 1929. In 1943 she entered the School of Arts and Crafts (Llotja), and in 1945 the Higher School of Fine Arts, where she received an academic training. There she met Leonci Quera, Mercè Vallverdú, Josep Maria Subirachs, and Ricard Creus, whom she married in 1956. Together with them, she founded the Postectura Group in 1950.

An intense period followed, during which she took part in the Salons d’Octubre, the Saló d’Art Independent, and various group exhibitions. In 1953, thanks to a scholarship from the Institut Français, she travelled to Paris, where she formed friendships with Maria Girona, Ràfols Casamada, Antoni Clavé, Guinovart, and Antonio Bonet Correa. In 1955 she exhibited with great success at the Biosca Gallery in Madrid, accompanied by a presentation text written by Cesáreo Rodríguez-Aguilera. In 1956 she and Ricard Creus moved to Milan, where they became active participants in the city’s cultural life and exhibited at the Pater Gallery. They returned to Barcelona in 1957, the year their son Adrià was born.

Between 1959 and 1963 she continued travelling throughout Europe—Paris, Milan, Venice, and Switzerland—and art critics such as Angel Marsà, Juan Cortés, and Benet Aurell wrote about her work. In 1965 Esther Boix created the Estampa Popular group in Barcelona, and in 1966 the significant “2nd National Exhibition of Popular Prints” was held in Hospitalet de Llobregat. Shortly afterwards, in 1967, she and Ricard Creus founded “L’Arc,” a visual arts school for young people, where she put her interest in art pedagogy into practice. During these years she exhibited in Barcelona, Salamanca, Valladolid, Soria, and other cities.

In 1970 she was arrested after demonstrating against the Burgos trials, an event that marked the beginning of the “Hard Years” and a series of paintings with a strong protest theme. Throughout the 1970s she continued exhibiting in different Spanish cities, and critics such as Corredor Matheos, Santos Torroella, Maria Lluïsa Borràs, Daniel Giralt-Miracle, Arnau Puig, and Moreno Galván wrote about her work. In 1975 she exhibited at the Galería Península in Madrid, directed by Moreno Galván. This marked the beginning of the stage she called “the hour of singing,” which lasted for the rest of her life.

In 1982 E. Boix and R. Creus published L’art a l’escola, a book that became highly influential among students of the time. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s she continued exhibiting and devoted herself to pedagogy. Late in life, she and her husband moved to El Perer, near La Fageda d’en Jordà (Garrotxa), to reconnect with nature. In her final days she returned to Anglès, where she died at the age of 87 on May 26, 2014.