Colla del Safrà

The Colla del Safrà ( Catalan for 'Safrangruppe'), also called Colla de Sant Martí (Catalan for 'Group of Sant Martí'), was an artist group of the painters Isidre Nonell , Joaquim Mir , Ricard Canals , Ramon Pichot , Juli Vallmitjana and Adrià Gual . The group was founded by Nonell in 1893 and existed until 1896.

The name Safrangruppe was derived from the yellowish ( saffron-colored ) basic tone of many of the group's pictures. The name as a group of Sant Martí , on the other hand, refers to Sant Martí de Provençals , today a district of Barcelona , until the end of the 19th century a rural place in front of the city, where many of her pictures were taken.

The Colla del Safrà had neither a strict artistic program nor a fixed structure. Rather, it was a loose association of young painters, known through their studies at the art academies in Barcelona, ​​which combined a certain anarchic attitude and - in the field of painting - an interest in plein air painting . In addition, the group shared a pronounced social awareness, similar to that of the literary movement of the Generación del 98 , which later manifested itself - especially with Isidre Nonell - in the choice of motifs, which often portrayed people from excluded groups, such as beggars and gypsies or soldiers returning from the lost Cuban War.