Josep Navarro-Vives was born on August 16th in Castelsarrasin, France. When he was only 4 years old his family moved to Barcelona, just before the beginning of Spanish civil war. In his childhood he goes through all the difficulties connected with war and post-war times. In 1944 Navarro begins working in a glass factory. by 1949 he attends the "Escola Superior de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi" in Barcelona to study polychromy. The French Goverment grant allows him to complete his training in Paris, where he attends the courses of the "Ecole des Beaux Arts" and of "L'Académie de la Grande Chaumière". Shortly after using a grant to go to London he wins the first prize for British Railways tourist promotion poster ( British Railways Poster Competitions, 1961 ). The original becomes the possession of the British Crown Museum. In 1971 Navarro is invited by the Spanish Contemporary Art Museum to participate to a travelling exhibition in various European and American cities. In 1977 the period of "Magic Realism" begins: still life, landscape and boats. His work is the reflection of his culture and his country. He is an artist who never wanted to lose his roots, his way of seeing things, his way of being.

His exhibitions include his anthology at the Contini Gallery in Cortina d’Ampezzo (2001) Contin Art Gallery in Venice, Italy, and at the Craighead-Green Gallery, Dallas (1999), an the Arcadi Calzada Gallery in Olot, Spain (1998).