Writing desk; JOSEP PUIG I CADAFALCH (Mataró,... Lot 4

Writing desk; JOSEP PUIG I CADAFALCH (Mataró, 1867- Barcelona, 1958). Walnut wood, coloured glass and gilded metal. Measurements: 258 x 86 x 45 cm. The architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch is now remembered as one of the great names of Catalan modernism. He developed his training in Barcelona, where he studied architecture and exact sciences, and shortly after finishing his studies he obtained the post of municipal architect in his native Mataró, when he was only twenty-four years old. It was there that he carried out his first architectural projects, although five years later he returned to Barcelona. There he was appointed professor at the School of Architecture, specialising in hydraulics and resistance of materials. His prestige led him to assume the post of president of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya in 1917, a post from which he drew up an ambitious educational and cultural plan that included the promotion of the archaeological excavation of Ampurias. He held the post until 1923. As an architect, Puig i Cadafaclh was a disciple of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, and is considered the last representative of Modernisme and the first of Noucentisme. He began his career in the modernist style of his training, revealing a certain Nordic influence in works such as the Amatller, Martí, Terradas and de les Punxes houses. After this first period, between 1895 and 1905, he evolved towards a language that could be defined as rational idealism, based on the tastes of the new haute bourgeoisie, which crystallised in buildings designed with a more rational and practical approach, as exemplified by the Trinxet, Muntades and Company houses. Finally, his period of maturity was monumentalist, and developed around the preparations for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition, of which Puig i Cadafalch was the main architect. It was now inspired by Roman architecture, although it also incorporated elements typical of Valencia and Andalusia, resulting in an attractive neo-baroque style. At the same time, he also showed great interest in American architecture, and even designed the Pich House inspired by Louis Henry Sullivan. He also carried out important work as an art historian. During the Civil War he went into exile in Paris, where he devoted himself mainly to teaching architecture and history and was awarded honorary doctorates by several universities, including Paris. On his return, the new regime did not allow him to work as an architect, so he devoted himself to the restoration of historic buildings.