The son of a cabinet maker, he became one of the driving forces of Catalan arts and culture. His first contact with the world of furniture was in his father´s workshop. In 1867 his father sent him to study in Paris where he was able to attend the School of Decorative Arts. In 1878 he returned to Barcelona and started working as a furniture maker and before very long he founded Taller Vidal. This workshop became a centre for the applied arts where many of the foremost artists of Modernisme started out and which received commissions from a wealthy and cultured clientele at home and abroad. Vidal i Jevellí was mainly a furniture designer, with ideas that foreshadowed the Modernista aesthetic, albeit linked to the Historicist aesthetic. However, he also made cast iron objects, stained glass windows and tapestries.

Among those who worked with him were Frederic Masriera (with whom he went into partnership), G. Homar, S. Marco, J. Gonzàlez and A. Rigalt. His daughter, L. Vidal, became a professional painter and his son, Frederic Vidal, a stained glass window maker.