Xavier Carbonell i Serra

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Xavier Carbonell i Serra (born June 4, 1942 in Olot ; † August 3, 2015 ibid) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and lithographer of great international importance who stood in the tradition of the Olot School . He was the son of the Catalan painter Lluís Carbonell i Colom . He was married to the well-known Catalan sculptor Rosa Serra i Puigvert .

life and work

The Sardanad Monument in Olot by Xavier Carbonell erected for the pubillatge of 1968

Carbonell attended primary and secondary school in Olot. At the age of seven he gained his first experience in the fine arts in his father's private art academy. At the age of eleven, he enrolled in the Olot Academy of Fine Arts and for twelve years completed courses in drawing, perspective, scenography, engraving and sculpture offered by the academy. He later returned to this academy to perfect certain techniques such as lithography, ceramics and enamel. In 1974 he learned to draw models in motion in the “La Grand Chaumière” studio in Paris . In 1982 he went to Milan and Florence to study art . In 1986 he went back to Paris to work in the “La Grand Chaumière” studio. In 1990 he went to Vienna to study the work of Gustav Klimt .

External development of the work

In 1971 the stage of his exhibitions began initially in Catalonia, which expanded from 1993 to an international exhibition career with an exhibition in Florida. Carbonell has had over 100 exhibitions since 1971, including in Olot (9), Barcelona (11), Madrid (10), Geneva (5), Zurich , Vienna , Paris , Los Angeles , Miami and New York City . His last exhibitions were in Las Vegas in 2012 and in Houston in 2013 . For the last 20 years of his life he had a constant artistic presence in the United States . This gave his work an absolutely open and innovative character. His international career has in no way alienated him from Olot. During this time he supported the city's art life, for example by designing the decoration of theater exhibitions, art posters and the illustration of magazine articles about local cultural events. He often gave painting and drawing lessons to young people and interested adults in collaboration with his father in his studio. Carbonell is the sculptural originator of the Sardana Monument by Olot. He also painted the portrait of the writer Joan Teixidor i Comes . In 2013, Carbonell published the essay “Experiences in the Art World of Olot” on the occasion of a cultural conference. In 2007, Carbonell was awarded the Garrotxí de l'Any (Personality of the Year from the Garrotxa ) award for his outstanding achievements in the field of culture . Carbonell was made an honorary citizen by the city of Olot. Numerous monographs deal with the artistic work of Xavier Carbonell. Works by the artist are presented in the following museums and public buildings, among others: Garrotxa Museum (Olot) , Art Museum Girona (Col·lecio Diputació de Girona), Art Museum Barcelona (Col·lecio Diputació de Barcelona), the Olympic Museum and the conference room of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne (there the cycle of pictures “Olympic Philosophy”), in the Palace of Zarzuela in Madrid, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, in the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City and in some museums and public institutions in the United States.

Inner development of the work

Miralles sees time as the decisive determinant in Carbonell's artistic work. On the one hand, time stands for the externally chronological process on the other hand for the inner-affective quantity that affects every person. After his return from Paris in 1974, Carbonell matured decisively in his artistic personality. He is still concerned with the subject of the landscape. Since the 1976 exhibition in Bilbao at the latest, his pictures have been explaining to the viewer a motif in its development, maturation and decay in a completely intuitive and holistic manner, precisely a motif in its inner time dimension. Spring trees don't have to have leaves. Carbonell realizes the representation of time with the finest color gradations and pastel tones. The pure landscape thus transcends - similar to the Impressionists - in its dimension of time and meaning. From around 1978, Carbonell turned to a new theme and motif. He artistically depicts buildings, furniture and also anonymous people (these based on old photographs) from the beginning of the 20th century. To a certain extent he realizes this past zeitgeist anew, not in an iconographic but in an affective-emotional sense. Again, colors are the means with which he tells his “picture stories” in their time dimension. Now, in addition to the classic landscapes, urban landscapes, interiors, still lifes and even depictions of people gain their fascinating depth in time. In 1992, Carbonell first traveled to New York. Here he then subjected the skyline of this city to the artistic treatment described for him specifically. The result are the world-famous, time-and-again admired New York pictures by the artist. Xavier Carbonell died on August 3, 2015 after a long illness in his hometown of Olot.

literature

  • Francesc Miralles (1979), Xavier Carbonell . In: Viçens Coromina (editor): Olot Art, Doscents anys de pintura . Olot April 1979, pp. 58-65.
  • Baltasar Porcel (1981): Xavier Carbonell
  • Gran enciclopèdia catalana (1983), 1st edition, Barcelona 1983, volume 16 (supplement volume), ISBN 84-85194-37-3 (volume 16), page 184, article "Carbonell i Serra, Xavier"
  • Enric S. Soldevila (1986), Xavier Carbonell, Barcelona, ​​Ed. Àmbit
  • Oriol Martorell, Jaume Fàbrega (1989), Xavier Carbonell - òpera i concepte, Olot
  • Montserrat Roig (1990), Xavier Carbonell, Barcelona, ​​Edicions Catalanes SA
  • Joan Oró, Antonio Lazcano (1993), Xavier Carbonell a Nova York, Olot
  • Rosa Gil, Rosalinda de Basté (1994), Faces, Olot
  • Jonathan A. Benavides (1997), Xavier Carbonell, Singapore, Ed. Andres Contemporary Art
  • Comité International Olympique (editor), Juan Antonio Samaranch, Francoise Zweifel, Ramon Balius (1998), Xavier Carbonell, Philosophy Olympique, Olot
  • Catalog (1999), Xavier Carbonell, Paris Intime, Paris, Ed. Goinard Gallery
  • K. Mitchell Snow (2001, 2009), Xavier Carbonell Stil Life, New York, Ed. J. Rothschild Fine Art, 2001 and New York Ed. Mc.Cormack, 2009
  • Ajuntament d'Olot (editor), Josep M. Canals (2015), Diccionari Biogràfic d'Olot, Olot 2015, ISBN 978-84-938058-4-5 , page 180 ff, article “Carbonell i Serra, Xavier”; there is also a bibliography of other works by and about Xavier Carbonell.

Web links

Commons : Xavier Carbonell i Serra  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Xavier Carbonell in Serra . in: Baltasar Porcel, Xavier Carbonell: Xavier Carbonell. , La Gran Enciclopedia Vasca , 1981, p. 13
  2. ↑ cf. the article Sardana
personal data
SURNAME Carbonell i Serra, Xavier
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Carbonell, Xavier
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Spanish painter
DATE OF BIRTH June 4, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Olot , Catalonia , Spain
DATE OF DEATH 3rd August 2015
Place of death Olot , Catalonia , Spain