Eduard Alentorn

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The Venus of the waterfall in the Park de la Ciutadella

Eduard Batiste Alentorn (born December 5, 1855 in Falset , † September 7, 1920 in Manresa ) was a Catalan sculptor of the 19th century.

Eduard Batiste Alentorn was born on December 5, 1855 in Falset . He was interested in sculpture from an early age, at the age of 14 he was enrolled as a student for classical drawing, sculpture and anatomy studies in the Llotja (Catalan Academy of the Arts) and took courses until 1874. There he was a student of the sculptor Joan Roig i Solé , in whose studio he had already started at the age of thirteen. Between 1870 and 1877 he worked first as a student of Rafael Atché and then mainly with Andreu Aleu , one of his main masters. He then went on to study with the brothers Venanci Vallmitjana and Agapit Vallmitjana (main masters of eclectic sculpture in Catalonia). They brought him into contact with the contemporary artist movement by entrusting him with the commission for the Venus of the Waterfall in the Parc de la Ciutadella . From 1879 to 1881 he went to Rome on a scholarship .

After the Vallmitjana brothers no longer wanted to take over the execution of the project for Venus (i.e. the main group for the large waterfall in the park), the design committee of the Park de la Ciutadella asked Alentorn to continue the project. This sculpture would become one of his major works and brought him universal recognition and fame.

In 1881 he took part in the National Art Exhibition of Spain in Madrid with the sculpture The Prodigal Son , the same year in which he won the competition for the Ramon Llull monument on Mallorca . In 1882 he presented himself with a competition design for the Juan Prim monument in Barcelona. Even if he was only able to take third place in this competition, it was one of the most elaborate projects of his artistic career and also the only knight's monument. In addition, the good result at the Venus in the Park of 1882 had increased his level of awareness to such an extent that the success helped him to receive further orders from the planning commission of the park, including the seat sculptures by Félix de Azara and Jaume Salvador for the portal of the Martorell Museum (Alentorn won the bronze medal of the world exhibition of 1888 for these sculptures), the fox and stork fountain, an astrologer (lost sculpture) and the two reputation allegories for the two domes of the Palais der Schönen Künste.

During this first creative period, due to family problems with his father, he decided never to give his father's surname and only that of his mother. The father had treated the children badly when they were little and then disappeared to Cuba. Many years later Alentorn tried to contact his father again, but he never answered. So his decision against the use of his father's name was confirmed again.

In 1888 he designed the marine allegory for the Güell-i-Ferrer monument and in the same year he made the sculpture of Captain Margarit and the relief by Juan Perez for the great Columbus monument in Barcelona. The following years were particularly important for Alentorn, he created three sculptures for the facade of the Barcelona Cathedral (1890) and three reliefs with judicial allegories and four sculptures by famous Catalan legal scholars for the Palace of Justice in Barcelona (1894–96).

In 1900 the sculpture of St. Eulàlia followed (today in Pla de la Boqueria next to the opera) and a relief depicting the Coronation of Mary for the tympanum of Santa Maria de Vilafranca del Penedès . In 1904 Alentorn created his most famous work: the “Vara de Rey monument” in Ibiza . This monument was inaugurated in the same year by the then King of Spain, Alfonso XIII , who was very pleased with the execution. In the same year he presented himself with a project in the competition for the “ San Martin Monument” in Peru and took part in other competitions. In 1906 he began work on the cymbal at Barcelona Cathedral, for which he made eight angels surrounding the cymbal and the colossal sculpture of St. Elena on top of the cymbal (completed in 1910). In the same year he also made the allegory of religion for the Malagrida pantheon in the Montjuïc cemetery and a crucifix for the crypt of the Girona chapel in the cathedral. In 1915 he worked on three public fountains for the Barcelona City Council: the turtle fountain, the fountain with the black boy and the peasant women fountain.

His last work is the bust of Ferran Alsina (now in the Museu de la Ciència i de la Tècnica de Catalunya in Terrassa ) for the Mentora Alsina Museum in Tibidabo . Alentorn died on September 7, 1920 in Manresa , where he was working on an unfinished monument for the city.

Alentorn was a sculptor who worked a lot and consistently, but whose work is little appreciated and almost forgotten today, as he has hardly been studied and thus little is known about him. Despite this, he was one of the most famous sculptors in Catalonia in his time and skillfully adapted his productive work to contemporary tastes. This is evidenced by many commissions from high personalities of the time: Francesc de Paula Rius i Taulet (former Mayor of Barcelona), Manuel Girona , Peris Mencheta, Malagrida, Eusebi Güell ... After his death the press wrote a lot about him, which in turn was his important social Role occupied. In spite of everything, the interest in his person has greatly diminished, so that today he is regarded as a second or third rank sculptor, although this in no way corresponds to the real artistic importance of his time. Even the contemporary papers described him as always working, although apparently it was less about success and more about personal work. Even friends of his knew little about his life as a sculptor. His reluctance may also be a reason for the difficult source situation today, but apart from the newspaper reports, little information about his life remained after his death.

Even if the passage of time marginalizes Alentorn in the important studies of 19th century art, it only means that we are not well informed about his work today, even if he was one of the most important and productive artists in Barcelona at the turn of the century has been.

Works

Project for the Juan Prim Monument in Barcelona
Vara de Rey monument, Ibiza
Saints Elena and Alentorn
  • Venus, Great Waterfall in the Park de la Ciutadella, 1882
  • Project for the Juan Prim Monument, 1882
  • Tetramorf on the facade of the Sagrat-Cor Church in Carrer Casp, 1883–85
  • Fox and stork fountain, Park de la Ciutadella, 1884
  • Felix de Azara i Perera, Martorell Museum, Ciutadella, 1884
  • Jaume Salvador i Pedrol, Martorell Museum, Ciutadella, 1886
  • Captain Margarit, Columbus Monument, 1888
  • Relief by Juan Pérez, Columbus Monument, 1888
  • Reputation allegories in the Palais der Schönen Künste, 1888 (today destroyed)
  • Allegory of the seafaring, Güell-i-Ferrer monument, 1888 (now destroyed)
  • Saints Maria dels Socors, St Ramon de Penyafort and St Josep Oriol, facade of cathedral, 1890
  • Three reliefs and four sculptures for the Palace of Justice in Barcelona, ​​1894–96
  • Saint Eulàlia, Pla de la Boqueria , 1900
  • Coronation of Mary, Basilica of St. Mary of Vilafranca del Penedès , 1903–05
  • Vara de Rey monument, Ibiza , 1904
  • Eight angels for the cymbal of the cathedral, Barcelona, ​​1906-08
  • Saint Elena on the cimborium of the cathedral, Barcelona, ​​1910
  • Allegory of Religion, Malagrida Mausoleum, Montjuïc Cemetery, 1910
  • Christ crucified, crypt of the chapel of Manuel Girona in the cloister of the cathedral, 1910
  • Turtle fountain, Plaça Sepulveda, 1915
  • Fountain with a black boy, Diagonal amb Bruc, 1915
  • Peasant women fountain, Plaça Letamendi, 1915
  • Ferran Alsina bust, MNACTEC, Terrassa , 1917

literature

  • Arxiu Històric Administratiu de Barcelona. Comissió de Foment de la Ciutadella, Caixa num. 14, agent num. 7, (Portes d'entrada i escultures de la Cascada, año 1875 a 89.)
  • Arxiu de l'Acadèmia de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi, Barcelona. Libro de Matrícula. Enseñanza profesional de dibujo, pintura, escultura y grabado, 1869–70
  • DE TERA, Eloi. "Un escultor oblidat: Eduard B. Alentron (1855-1920)", Butlletí de la Reial Acadèmia de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi, XXIII-XXIV, 2009-2010
  • Santiago Alcolea: L'Escultura Catalana del sail XIX: Del Neoclassicisme al Realisme . Cataleg de la exposició de Llotja, 1989.
  • Feliu Elies: L'Escultura Catalana Moderna (volum II) . Barcelona 1926-1928.
  • Manuel García Martín: Estàtuaria pública de Barcelona (3 volumes) . Catalana de Gas y Electricidad, Barcelona, ​​1984.
  • JF Rafols: Diccionario Biografico de artistas de Cataluña (volum I) . Barcelona, ​​1951.
  • Judit Subirachs: L'escultura catalana del segle XIX a Catalunya . Biblioteca Abat Oliba, Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, Barcelona, ​​1994.

Web links

Commons : Eduard Alentorn  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files