Pilar Pasqual Del Pobil Smith
(Madrid, Spain, 1929 – 2024, Salt Lake, Utah)
Pilar Pobil was born in Madrid, Spain, and lived in the Spanish Mediterranean port cities of Palma de Mallorca and Alicante for the first 26 years of her life. In 1956, she married Walter Smith and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. Pilar studied art in convent school while growing up and at the Academia de Bellas Artes Raimundo Lulio in Palma de Mallorca. Despite this background, she never started working seriously on art until 1973, and consequently, considers herself a self-taught artist. In 1973, inspired by her son's interest, Pilar took a pottery class that started her artistic career making hand-built sculptures. Much of this early work is in a folk art style that reflects her Spanish heritage. Common themes are landscapes, market scenes, peasants, saints, and nativity scenes. Pilar comments on the influences in her work: "My art reflects my Spanish origin which I consider my most valuable inheritance. For those who think my style Western, I can only point out that the whole culture of Western America was brought from Spain in a piece, and that the cultural interchange between what is now our Southwest and Spain went on for centuries." Pilar Pobil first exhibited her clay sculptures in the Phillips Gallery in Salt Lake City in 1974. Soon after, she began branching out into painting watercolors and oils. Her contemporary work also reflects her background but it does mix with her colorful, expressionistic, contemporary self. Her new works have an expressionist quality with bold colors and confident execution. She says, "I am not a complicated person, I draw my subjects from images that surround me. I have always been an observer of human expression and I try to project my observations into my art work. I love color, and I use it to depict emotions and feelings. I want to stop the clock and catch moments of life--make you see what I see. My work has helped me to grow as a person, it has made me free, and I am different today because of my art." Pilar's work has been exhibited in several cities in the United States and is represented in many private and public collections in Spain, Mexico, and the United States.
(Madrid, Spain, 1929 – 2024, Salt Lake, Utah)
Pilar Pobil was born in Madrid, Spain, and lived in the Spanish Mediterranean port cities of Palma de Mallorca and Alicante for the first 26 years of her life. In 1956, she married Walter Smith and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. Pilar studied art in convent school while growing up and at the Academia de Bellas Artes Raimundo Lulio in Palma de Mallorca. Despite this background, she never started working seriously on art until 1973, and consequently, considers herself a self-taught artist. In 1973, inspired by her son's interest, Pilar took a pottery class that started her artistic career making hand-built sculptures. Much of this early work is in a folk art style that reflects her Spanish heritage. Common themes are landscapes, market scenes, peasants, saints, and nativity scenes. Pilar comments on the influences in her work: "My art reflects my Spanish origin which I consider my most valuable inheritance. For those who think my style Western, I can only point out that the whole culture of Western America was brought from Spain in a piece, and that the cultural interchange between what is now our Southwest and Spain went on for centuries." Pilar Pobil first exhibited her clay sculptures in the Phillips Gallery in Salt Lake City in 1974. Soon after, she began branching out into painting watercolors and oils. Her contemporary work also reflects her background but it does mix with her colorful, expressionistic, contemporary self. Her new works have an expressionist quality with bold colors and confident execution. She says, "I am not a complicated person, I draw my subjects from images that surround me. I have always been an observer of human expression and I try to project my observations into my art work. I love color, and I use it to depict emotions and feelings. I want to stop the clock and catch moments of life--make you see what I see. My work has helped me to grow as a person, it has made me free, and I am different today because of my art." Pilar's work has been exhibited in several cities in the United States and is represented in many private and public collections in Spain, Mexico, and the United States.
