Josep Llimona i Bruguera

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Josep Llimona (before 1910, photographed by Pablo Audouard)
Font de la Bellesa (Fountain of the Beautiful, 1925) Plaça de Dante at the foot of Montjuïc , Barcelona
Sant Jordi (Saint George, 1924) in Parc de Montjuïc , Barcelona
Desconsol (Sorrow, 1917) Parc de la Ciutadella , Barcelona

Josep Llimona i Bruguera (born April 8, 1864 in Barcelona ; † February 27, 1934 there ) was a Catalan sculptor. He is one of the outstanding representatives of Catalan modernism as well as symbolism . Josep Llmona is the younger brother of the painter Joan Llimona i Bruguera .

Becoming the artist

As a child he received artistic training from the Barcelona painter Frederic Trias i Planas . He later studied Fine Arts at Llotja , the Barcelona Art School. In 1880, at the age of 16, he received the Fortuny scholarship from the city of Barcelona for a study visit to Rome for the sculpture El fill pròdig (The Prodigal Son, 1879 - today on display at the MNAC ) . His brother Joan accompanied him. In Rome he worked in the studio of the modernist painter Enric Serra i Auqué and attended the Acadèmia Gigi . In 1880 he created the Patrici romà (Roman patrician), the specimen for his Rome grant, and a sketch for the equestrian statue of Ramon Berenguer the Great , Count of Barcelona, ​​Girona and Osona. Back in Barcelona in 1886, he created the molds for the Columbus Monument. In 1888 he created several works for the world exhibition in Barcelona. The final version of the equestrian statue of Ramon Berenguer was placed in the square of the same name. He also created the frieze for the triumphal arch in Barcelona. At the world exhibition he received a gold medal for the statue Eqüestre Romana (Mounted Roman).

The recognized artist

Initiated by the conversion of his brother Joan to Catholicism, he founded the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc with him and began to create works with a religious theme: Mare de Déu del Roser (Mother of God in the Rosenhag, 1892), Consumatum est (It is done, 1896 in the Rosary Shrine of Montserrat), Primera Comunió (First Communion, 1897 - today in the MNAC ). In 1900 he showed drawings of naked women for the first time in exhibitions in Barcelona and in Olot , where he often retreated - a subject that he then worked on artistically more often. His wife's death in 1901 reinforced his introverted character. Llimona received numerous private and public contracts. He designed numerous tombs for private use. A public commission, for example, was the monument to Doctor Robert in Barcelona (1903/1910). At the International Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona in 1907 he received the honorary award for his work Desconsol ( Affliction ).

In 1909 he became a councilor for the city of Barcelona. In 1914 he supported Antoni Gaudí in the monumental Rosary Shrine of Montserrat in the “First Glorious Mystery”: “Jesus who rose from the dead” ( Lk 24.6  EU ), with a sculpture of the risen Christ ( Crist ressuscitat ). In 1918 he took over the presidency of the city's museum council. In the great art exhibition of Barcelona in 1920 the honor room for sculpture was dedicated to him. In 1924 he created one of his best works, Sant Jordi (Saint George). Although he had worked on this motif several times, the Sant Jordi from 1924 is characterized by a unique posture on his horse. The sculpture is in the Parc de Montjuïc in Barcelona. In 1931 he was re-elected President of the Museum Council, the position he held from 1918 to 1924. He became the most important cultural driver in the heyday of the museums in Barcelona. He held this cultural and political office until his death. In addition to exhibitions in Barcelona, ​​Llimona had exhibitions in Madrid (1901, 1915), Brussels (1914), Paris (1919), Buenos Aires and Rosario de Santa Fe (1925). Some of his works are now in museums in Argentina. Llimona was officially recognized as an artist. Among other things, it received high decorations from the governments of France and Italy. Llimona also received the first gold medal for art awarded by the city of Barcelona.

Private

Josep Llimona was the son of the musician Josep Llimona i Bonafont , who was also an entrepreneur with the Can Barnau cord factory . His brother Alfons continued to run the factory, while Josep and his brother Joan chose the fine arts as their field of activity. Josep Llimona was the father of Maria Llimona i Benet, Rafael Llimona i Benet and the draftsman Lluís Llimona i Benet (1898–1960).

Rating

Josep Llimona was an eclectic artist who assimilated the European art movement, which had gone beyond the anecdotism of the 18th century, in the person of Auguste Rodin , Constantin Meunier and Albert Bartholomé and developed it personally in the form of symbolism. He is considered to be the most important sculptor of modernism, especially after he created the female figure Modestia (modesty) in 1891 . The most important feature of his style is an elegant reluctance to face possible eroticism in his numerous female nudes. In depicting the male sex, he curbs the aggressiveness of his characters. In this way he avoids that his characters get into negative talk. Examples of such balanced works are the following female figures: Joventut (youth, 1913 - today in the MNAC), Meditació (meditation, 1917 - today in the Llimona collection), La bellesa (The Beauty, 1924 - in the Parc de Montjuïc ). And the male figures: El forjador (The Blacksmith, 1914 - Parc de Montjuïc) or the Monument to the Màrtirs de la Independència (Martyrs of Independence, 1925 - Plaça de Garriga i Bachs ). This reluctance, together with the will to offer people a service, as well as the distance from an artificial, unsynthetic modernism, favored his taking root in the Noucentisme . These mediating properties are particularly evident in the group of figures Catalunya i les ciències (Catalonia and the Sciences, 1912) in the portal of the National Library of Catalonia.

literature

  • Enciclopèdia Catalana: Llimona i Bruguera, Josep . In: Gran enciclopèdia catalana. 2nd edition 5th reprint 1992. Volume 14 . Enciclopèdia catalana, Barcelona 1987, ISBN 84-7739-011-8 , p. 82 f . (Catalan).

Web links

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

Individual references and comments

  1. ↑ Catalan doctor and politician of Mexican origin, real name: Bartomeu Robert i Yarzábal.
  2. ↑ Information from the family history based on: Núria Rius Vernet ( Diccionari biogràfic de dones ): Mercè Llimona i Raymat (biography). Generalitat de Catalunya, Consell de Mallorca, Xarxa Vives d'Universitats, October 2, 2010, accessed June 16, 2018 (Catalan).
  3. ↑ This YouTube video from MEAM , Barcelona, ​​from 2014 presents 60 works by Josep Llimona from private collections on the occasion of the opening of the three-month commemorative exhibition for the artist's 150th birthday. The museum's director, the Catalan Minister of Culture and Francesc Llimona, the artist's great-grandson, spoke at the event.
personal data
SURNAME Llimona i Bruguera, Josep
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catalan sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH April 8, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1934
Place of death Barcelona