He studied with artists from Tarragona such as Ballvé and the sculptor Janés before going to the Barcelona School of Fine Arts, commonly known as La Llotja.

In 1885 he went to Paris where he was not very successful and lived to a certain degree in poverty. Shortly afterwards, in 1897, he spent a period in Madrid. He is regarded as a precursor of Post-Modernisme, and, although he lived at the height of Modernisme and mixed with some of the movement's most representative artists, such as S. Rusiñol, whom he first met in Tarragona and met up with again in Paris, he kept himself apart and never joined any of the existing groups. In 1907 he met the architect A. Gaudí, who took him into his workshop to make the moulds for the sculptures. From that moment on he began to collaborate on several of the architect's works such as La Pedrera (1906-1910; Passeig de Gràcia, 92 - Provença, 261-265), and the decoration of the Nativity Façade of the Temple of the Sagrada Família.

His best known work is Els degenerats (The Degenerates, 1891-1907; MNAC collection, and a replica in the Gaudí House-Museum, Park Güell), which deals with a recurrent theme in his work, the misery of the human condition, and features considerable Expressionist elements.