Col·lecció Josep Maria Vila

Josep Maria Vila Collection

Josep Maria Vila i Medinyà (Celrà, 1952) holds a degree in Catalan philology and is a researcher.

The collection was assembled by Josep Maria Vila, the result of his skills as a cultural scholar and historian. It is made up of two parts that were acquired at two different times. The first, acquired in 2011, consists of two portraits of women, dating between 1910 and 1916. The two 31 x 25 cm prints with secondary cardboard, in which the matte collodion process was used, were taken by the photographer Joan Llinàs Badosa, who had a gallery named Arte Modero from 1910 to 1916 on Avinguda Jaume in Girona.

The photographs from the second part, which were entered into the register in 2016, are set in Palafrugell, Girona, Barcelona, El Pertús, Perpignan, Ceret, etc. The subject matter includes studio portraits and landscape shots. There are some portraits that are interesting because of the poses of those portrayed, such as, for example, one of a priest, portraits of different women, etc. The photographers include Rafael Areñas (important late-19th-century photographer from Barcelona) and Jaume Ferrer (Palafrugell), among others.

Area of identification

Reference code

CAT INSPAI 9

Level of description

Collection

Title

Josep Maria Vila Collection

Date(s)

Dates of creation: 1910-1950

Volume and support

106 photographs on paper, with final positive images mostly in black and white, and in different formats.

Context area

Name of producer(s)

Josep Maria Vila Medinyà

Producer history

Josep Maria Vila i Medinyà (Celrà, 1952) graduated in Catalan philology from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). He is a scholar of popular Catalan literature and old Catalan theatre art, a researcher in the field of the 17th and 18th centuries, and a cultural historian. He is the author of several studies and books on these specialities. His recent work has involved editing the unpublished drama Jueus (Jews) (2005) by Miquel de Palol, as well as La processó dels Dolors de Mieres i la representació de la Passió (The procession of the Dolors de Mieres and the representation of the Passion of Christ) (2003) and El jardí de les paraules (The Garden of Words) (2001). He is a member of several philology organizations and is part of the Board of the Institut d¿Estudis Gironins (Institute of cultural and scientific studies focused on Girona) Alone or in collaboration with other scholars, he is the author of several studies, monographs, and editions on Catalan personal care and cleaning products, cooking and desserts. In French, he contributed to the publication of the French edition of Promenade d¿anniversaire (Birthday Walk) by Joan Vinyoli (1990), for which he wrote the foreword. He also wrote the introductory note to the French translation of Josafat (Jehoshaphat) (2016). In his role as historian, he is also a collector and bibliophile. Vila belongs to a long-established wealthy family from Rupià and his great-grandfather was mayor of Rupià.

Archive history

This collection was acquired in two phases. The first acquisition was in 2011. It consisted of two photographs that Josep Maria Vila purchased ten years earlier in Girona from bookseller Joan Cortés, together with other graphic and print material. After this, the donation was recorded in the acquisitions register and an inventory and report were prepared to formalise the acquisition In 2012, the images were digitized with the Phase One camera and, subsequently, they underwent digital processing and color management. The same year, the images were cleaned with a thin paintbrush and a dust blower, they were given code numbers and described in the Centre¿s general database, and they were relocated to permanent preservation material with polyester sleeves and inside a pH-neutral cardboard folder. The original photographs are kept in the INSPAI preservation repositories in large boxes (G1). On May 9, 2016, Josep Maria Vila offered INSPAI a collection of 104 photographs, some from his family. The photographs have different formats: mainly postcards and cartes-de-visite, but there are also some cabinet cards and boudoir photographs.

Details of entry

The first acquisition was formalised on March 1, 2011 through a simple donation form signed by Josep Maria Vila and entered into the Diputació de Girona¿s general register. The Diputació de Girona approved the donation via a decree issued by the Governing Board on December 20, 2011. On August 30, 2016, the second part of the images were entered in the register.

Content area and structure

Scope and content

The two photographs donated by Josep Maria Vila were taken by Joan Llinàs i Badosa, a photographer from Sant Daniel (Girona) who in 1910 built a gallery called Arte Moderno on Avinguda Jaume I in the city of Girona. In 1916, he moved to Barcelona, and the photographers Barber and Pereferrer took over the gallery. The images are two portraits of women, dating from between 1910 and 1916, approximately, with positives on paper, made using the gelatin silver process, and with a 31 × 25 cm format. In terms of geographical scope, the photos are focused on the city of Girona. The photographs from the second phase are set in Palafrugell, Girona, Barcelona, Le Perthus, Perpignan, Céret, etc. The subject matter includes studio portraits and landscape shots. There are some portraits that are interesting because of the poses of those portrayed, such as, for example, one of a priest, portraits of different women, etc. The photographers include Rafael Areñas (important late-19th-century photographer from Barcelona) and Jaume Ferrer (Palafrugell), among others.

Conditions for access and use area

Conditions for access

Free and open access.