Joaquim Sunyer (Sitges, Barcelona, 1874 – 1956) began his studies at the Escola de la Llotja [Llotja School], where he coincided with Joaquim Mir, Ricard Canals, Isidre Nonell, and Joaquín Torres García. His first paintings, produced within the context of Parisian bohemia, reflect the influence of Steinlen and Daumier. In 1907 his visit to a retrospective dedicated to Cézanne coupled with his discovery of Matisse changed his career. His work garnered commentary by Apollinaire and André Salmon. In Paris and Céret he came into contact with Cubism. In 1911 he exhibited his oil painting Pastoral (1910-1911) at the Faianç Català in Barcelona, a preeminent work of Noucentisme. This elevated his status, consecrating his particular synthesis of tradition and modernity.

Avant-garde poets and critics, such as Joan Salvat-Papasseit and Josep Maria Junoy praised his pioneering aesthetic. Gustave Coquiot included him in his important book Cubistes, futuristes, passéistes (1914).

The outbreak of World War I found him in Barcelona. He collaborated actively with Francophile propaganda. During the 1920s, he participated in several collective exhibitions in Barcelona and Paris. In 1925 he held his first individual exhibition in Madrid with the support of Eugenio d’Ors. In 1950 the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid hosted a monographic exhibition dedicated to Sunyer.