The Maricel Museum explores the European influence on the return of Catalan art to realism in the interwar period

The Maricel Museum is dressed up again to host a first-level exhibition, which shows to what extent the European context of wars marked the Catalan artists and their work. The exhibition Realism in Catalonia (1917-1936), From classical Picasso to surrealist Dalí presents paintings by Picasso and Dalí, along with other pieces by artists such as Joaquim Sunyer, Alfred Sisquella, Josep de Togores, Ángeles Santos or Joan Miró. It is an initiative of the Museums of Sitges, the Museum of Valls and the Museum of La Garrotxa (Olot), promoted through the Network of Art Museums of Catalonia, and is curated by the historian of art Mariona Seguranyes.

The exhibition Realism in Catalonia (1917-1936). From classical Picasso to Surrealist Dalí it is a prospection and analysis of one of the most fascinating and complex moments in contemporary history, the period between the two world wars, from a Catalan perspective. The exhibition narrates the meetings and divergences of Catalan artists between the end of the First World War and the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, shaken by the great social and political transformations of the moment (the Great War, the Russian Revolution, the death of the President of the Commonwealth and promoter of Noucentisme, Enric Prat de la Riba, the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, social and labor conflicts ...).

The exhibition shows the return to realism and classicism, which marked the artistic and European context, and reflects how it was manifested in Catalan artists. The exhibition includes how the Catalan artists called the Rappel a l'ordre of Jean Cocteau, as well as the influence of the New German Objectivity, the Italian Novecento or the Magic Realism, baptized by Franz Roh. These are the new realisms(s) of Catalan painting, which go from the outside to the interior with some European referents. Some time of research, melancholy and evasion.

Realism(s) in Catalonia (1917-1936). From Classical Picasso to Surrealist Dalí is structured in four areas: Background of a modern classicism (1905-1914); In search of new figurations (1917-1936); Catalan painters under the influence of Picasso ; and Metaphysics, Surrealism and logicofobisme.

Picasso as a referent

The figure and the work of Picasso as aesthetic reference is one of the central axes of the exhibition. His works of classical and ingressian line coexist with his late-Cubist paintings, some of which produced throughout his stay in the Barcelona of 1917. On the occasion of the exhibition, the correspondence of a series of artists who attended the Malagan artist was analyzed, which helped them offer contacts from the Paris dealers. Francesc Domingo, Pere Pruna, Mariano Andreu, Manuel Humbert, Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí, among others.

From here comes a relationship of aesthetic complicities that allow us to understand to what extent iconic works such as the Picasso's Harlequin will mark the path to painters such as Josep de Togores, Francesc Domingo and in a very precise moment in very different ways. to Joan Miró. All of them at one time or another accepted the guidance of Picasso, by their harlequins, by the Mediterranean women running through the beach and by a universe that was so sweet that it was bad.

Works from different public and private collections

The exhibition includes works and documentation from the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, National Art Museum of Catalonia, Montserrat Museum - Montserrat Abbey, Vilanova i la Geltrú Museum Library, Jaume Morera Museum of Art, Lleida Museum, Art of Sabadell, Abelló Foundation of Mollet del Vallès, Palau de Caldes d'Estrac Foundation, Museum of Valls, Museum of La Garrotxa, Olot, Girona History Museum, Alfolí de la Sal - Museu de l'Escala, also including several private collections.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog with texts by the historians of art Francesc Fontbona, Ricard Mas and the commissioner of the exhibition, Mariona Seguranyes. The edition catalogs about 80 works in addition to containing the reproduction of various letters and documents from the Biblioteca de Catalunya, Museé National Picasso, Barcelona City Historical Archive, Jaume Morera Art Museum, Lleida, City Hall of Girona and private archives, among others.

Realism in Catalonia (1917-1936). From Classical Picasso to Surrealist Dalí is exhibited at the Maricel Museum until October 13th. Later, the exhibition will travel to the Museums of Valls and La Garrotxa (Olot).