Luis Amer was born in Barcelona on 2 November 1943. Born into a family linked to the world of photography, he took up the visual arts, showing great sensitivity from a young age.
In 1960, he began his studies at the well-known Baixas Academy in the popular Plaça del Pi in Barcelona. Motivated and fascinated by the world of painting, in 1963 he entered the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, which was directed by Frederic Marès. He graduated in 1967 after studying under prestigious teachers such as Sanvisens, Puigdengolas, Santos Torroella and Mestres Cabanes.
He continued his studies at the School of Romanesque Art in Sant Cugat del Vallés, which was directed at the time by Miquel Farré. In 1969, at the age of 26, he had his first solo exhibition in Barcelona and went on to study Advertising at the Guasch Coranty School of Applied Arts in Barcelona in 1970. With this background, he then decided to see the masterpieces of world painting and he travelled around Europe for two years, visiting the most important museums. During this time, he made contact with various creators, experimented with different techniques and artistic movements.
Later, he took up residence in Portugal, where he stayed for four years. He lived for two years in the city of Estoril, where he held several exhibitions, made contact with the cultural circles of Lisbon, took part in various artistic activities such as the exhibition at the Foz Palace and the stage decorations for one of the season’s ballets. He spent the other two years in Porto, where he continued his artistic activity.
In 1975, he returned to Barcelona, which became his permanent residence. Since then, he has held one exhibition after another, displaying his work both in Catalonia and abroad. He began a cycle of pictorial “campaigns” in different parts of the peninsula, trying to capture hidden landscapes of extreme beauty. A carefully edited, retrospective book was published in 1991 of this work, with a prologue by the art critic, Rafael Santos-Torroella and contributions from writers José Jiménez Lozano and Luis Rosales. The more than two hundred pages of the book contain Amer’s artistic spirit and his vision of landscape, architecture and people. Prior to this publication, in 1980, the critic Fernando Gutiérrez had written about the artist and his work.
