Josep Maria Sert

Josep Maria Sert , from Ramon Casas ( MNAC ).

Josep Maria Sert i Badia (born December 21, 1876 in Barcelona ; † November 27, 1945 there ) was one of the leading painters on the Spanish art scene of the 20th century. His work is attributed to the cultural trend of the Catalan noucentisme .

life and work

Sert was the son of a well-known artist who was responsible for designing tapestries in Barcelona . In his father Sert found his first teacher and also support for his further path in art. As a child, Sert was initially a student at the Jesuit college in Barcelona, ​​later he was tutored at home by a private tutor.

Then Sert decided to continue devoting himself to art, at the beginning he was primarily interested in wall painting in the style of Italian frescoes . In the early years of his artistic career, Sert produced a large number of works, which, however, were neither exhibited nor sold.

Mural in Vic Cathedral

In 1900 the first work appeared in public: a wall painting entitled El Cortejo de la Abundancia . He then received the order from Josep Torras i Bages , Bishop of Vic , to decorate the Cathedral of Vic . Sert produced numerous sketches. The first were published in Paris in 1908, and the response from French critics was unanimously positive. Sert's main work was and remained wall painting. This made him one of the most important artists of this genre of his time.

His most important works included his productions in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the panels of the Rockefeller Center and the Salon of the Spanish Society in New York. Also the palaces of justice in Barcelona and San Telmo in San Sebastián , the building of the League of Nations in Geneva as well as the palaces and houses of famous Spanish and foreign personalities.

In 1914, Sert created the stage set for the ballet Josephs Legende by Richard Strauss for the Théâtre National de l'Opéra Paris.

In January 1930 he became an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid . His most famous work was the wall paintings of the Cathedral in Vic , which were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War.

Private life

Josep Maria Sert was married twice: first to the muse of Toulouse-Lautrec and Renoir , Maria Sophie Godebska, who became known in the Parisian art scene under the name Misia Sert . From 1927 he was married to the Georgian princess Roussadana Mdivani .

literature

• Josep Maria Sert i Badia on enciclopèdia.cat (Catalan)

Web links

Commons : Josep Maria Sert  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files