Biography
Josep Maria Miralles was born in 1937 in Barcelona, in the middle of the Spanish Civil War, under the bombardments of the fascist aviation, and the fear of the anarchists, in the bosom of a family with a religious spirit.
In the postwar period, and with the deficiencies of all kinds of the time, he grew up with a great obsession for drawing and painting. His mother used to say that from the age of four, when they moved to live in Girona, he was already drawing very well. Back in Barcelona, in the Gracia neighborhood, he always had a pencil at hand. At the age of eight he drew an ancient lady for his mother, which she always kept and which had an incredible quality for a child of that age. His school notebooks were full of pictures that amazed his teachers. He always said that when he grew up he wanted to be an artist.
At the beginning of the 50s, with a lot of will, he was finally able to make his wish come true and began to dedicate himself to what he had always wanted: DRAWING.
He studied drawing, but it can be said that he was self-taught. His idol was (like many others) Alex Raymond and his Flash Gordon and Rip Kirby. Also Canniff, and Frank Robbins, Harold Foster, José Luis Salinas, etc. In the illustration Bob Peak, Bernie Fuchs, Joe Bowler, Frank McCarthy, and of course, Norman Rockwell, among others.
In 1953, at the age of fifteen, he met Josep Toutain, when he was beginning to gather illustrators to form what in the future would be the study of Selecciones Ilustradas. His first works were for France, Argentina and others, and a little later he made the great leap into the English youth magazine market: Valentine, Marilyn, Roxy and Serenade. He became a very relevant figure in the youth magazines of the British market.
But his concern asked him for more, and he left the comic strip to focus on color illustrations for magazines in different fields and book covers for many countries. He worked for all of Europe: Great Britain, Germany, Scandinavia, France, making covers for novels mainly of romantic theme, and for Scandinavian magazine serials.
Josep Maria was developing a very personnel style, and with great sensitivity. He did illustration work for Afha in Spain and Hachette in France among many other publishers. For Editorial Rollán he made the illustrations for the “El Viejo y el Niño” Collection, which make him deserve the respect and admiration of the world of illustration.
He also did gallery painting and various exhibitions. She won several prizes for quick painting (Montjuïc, L’Hospitalet, Arenys de Munt). But combining painting and illustration was difficult for him and he concentrated mainly on illustration.
From the hand of Selecciones Ilustradas in the 70s he made the great leap to the United States. At that time it evolved towards a more realistic style due to the ever-changing market demands. He has done many works for this country on different subjects: youth, children, women, licenses and even religious subjects. He contributed to several Illustrated Bibles for the publishers Tyndale and Reader’s Digest. Until recently, he was still doing religious-type paintings for a New Jersey publishing house.
In the mid-70s, he started working for the newly created Norma Agency, where he worked for the English market (Futura and others), the German (Bastei, Pabel, Kelter), and serials for Scandinavia (which he made until very recently ).
Later, through Selecciones Ilustradas, he illustrated the Star Wars license with great success.
A few years ago he made the natural leap for him to Gallery painting where he could show himself much more freely. His first exhibition was at the Jaimes Gallery on Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona, and since then he has continued to alternate between his work as an illustrator and as a painter. He has had exhibitions in Barcelona (The aforementioned Jaimes, College of Architects, Almirall Gallery, Club Dhin among others), Arenys de Mar, Olot (Armengol Gallery) and numerous group exhibitions. Josep Maria Miralles’ many-year pictorial activity has been and is very fruitful. His work is widely distributed among private collections in many countries.
Currently his style is realistic, with a good drawing base, a sweet and elegant brushstroke and a remarkable technique, the result of his many years of experience. His works reveal a special vibration, the fruit of his love and dedication to work.
He lives by and for his painting. His works are a true reflection of himself, because Josep Maria gives himself totally to his vocation.