JOAN REBULL TORROJA (Reus, 1899 - Barcelona, 1981). "Child's... Lot 24

JOAN REBULL TORROJA (Reus, 1899 - Barcelona, 1981). "Child's head". Ceramic sculpture. Signed on the right side. Model made for the collection of Joan Merlí, as stated on the back of the figure. Painted wooden base. Measurements: 21 x 12 x 11 cm (figure); 6 x 18 x 14 cm (base). Joan Merli Pahissa (1901-1995) publisher, collector, art dealer and art critic was one of the most influential and relevant figures of the Catalan culture of the years between the wars, but, in spite of the consideration his work enjoyed at the time both in Catalonia and in South America, where he settled after the Civil War, today his name is quite unknown to us. Joan Merli was the dealer of the sculptor Joan Rebull. Considered to be the most outstanding Catalan sculptor of his time, Joan Rebull began in the world of sculpture in his native city, under the guidance of the sculptor Pau Figueres. In 1915 he moved to Barcelona to begin his artistic training at the La Lonja School of Fine Arts, while at the same time working in the workshop of the marble worker Bechini. In 1916 he made his solo debut with an exhibition at the Centro de Lectura in Reus, and the following year he founded, together with other artists, the group known as "Els Evolucionistes" (The Evolutionists), which aimed to counter the Catalan Noucentisme. In 1921 he received a grant from the Círculo Artístico and travelled to London and Paris, where he was particularly impressed by the ancient art housed in their museums. Between 1926 and 1929 he lived in the French capital and took part in the Salon des Indépendants, although he also sent works to exhibitions in Barcelona. In Paris he was the first artist to be contracted by the prominent Catalan art dealer Joan Merli. On his return he was appointed president of the new Montjuic Salon (1932) and a member of the Sant Jordi Academy (1934), took part in various exhibitions in Madrid and Barcelona and, in 1938, won the Campeny Prize at the Salon d'Automne in Barcelona. After the war, he went into exile in Paris, where he took an active part in artistic life, taking part in the exhibition "Le Jeune Sculpture Française" and the Salons d'Automne. He returned to Barcelona in 1948, and three years later won a great prize at the I Bienal Hispano-American Art Biennial in Madrid. In 1962 he was appointed professor at the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts, and shortly before his death he was awarded the gold medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya. A child of noucentista perfectionism and a great draughtsman, Rebull worked with great technical mastery and confidence in the path to follow. His sculpture is direct and anti-rhetorical, based on a serene and essential vision of reality. His style can be defined as a reencounter with the source of classicism, from which he never copies the consequences. He is represented in the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the Reina Sofia National Centre, Barcelona City Hall, the Monastery of Montserrat and the Palau de la Música Catalana, among other centres.