The Heights

Success and failure based on the profile of Ismael Smith, one of the most queer, genuine and exceptional figures in artistic heritage. Dark and tormented, Smith ran into public misunderstanding but had a lucidity that briefly brought him fame.
 
From the Barcelona of 1886 to the New York of 1972, the novel Les altures (The Heights) traces the life of Ismael Smith, painter, sculptor and engraver and a brilliant promise of Catalan art at the beginning of the 20th century. Smith sought success among the wealthy families of turn-of-the-century New York but was banished a short time later by the bourgeoisie who had exalted him.

Sebastià Portell's most ambitious novel interprets Smith's career with a set of voices that embody the tensions and chiaroscuros that the provocative artist captured in his work.
 
The choral portrait of a life crossed by misunderstanding and by notions of success and failure in the world of art.