His father, Felip Vallmitjana, was a weaver. He and his brother began by modeling manger figures and carnival masks after finishing their day in the workshop. After their father showed their work to some local artists, two of them, Pau Xacó (a sculptor), and Sebastià Gallès i Pujal (1812–1902, a painter), insisted that they enroll in classes at the
Escola de la Llotja. Agapit attended the courses for 1849–1850. They were both mentored by the famous sculptor,
Damià Campeny. Although he influenced their style, once they had graduated they began to diverge from his
Neoclassical guidelines. They opened a workshop in Barcelona and created numerous works for public spaces and were named Knights in the
Order of Isabella the Catholic. When they received a large commission for work at the
University of Barcelona, they moved their studio there. During these years, they also participated in several international exhibitions and received a major award at the
1873 Vienna World's Fair. In 1877, they were elected to the
Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando. From 1876 to 1880, Agapit was an Acting Professor of sculpture at the Escola de la Llotja, then became a full-time Professor, by royal order in 1881, and held that post until his death. Eventually, in 1883, they established separate studios. Young students were always welcome at the workshop. Two of their earliest students were
Jeronimo Suñol and
Rossend Nobas. Later, they were mentors to and , among others, including Venanci's son, . In addition to his post at the Escola, he was a member of the
Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi. As a teacher, he was a mentor to many well known sculptors; most notably the
Modernist sculptor,
Pablo Gargallo. In his later years, he continued to create sculptures in public spaces, but was also much in demand for his funerary statues and portraits. == Works==