Jaume Mercadé

JAUME MERCADÉ QUERALT (Valls, Tarragona, 1887/89 - Barcelona, 1967).
"Tree and wall".
Ink and watercolour on paper.
Signed in the lower left corner.
With Artur Ramón's label on the back.
Size: 28 x 21 cm; 45 x 38 cm (frame).
Painter, goldsmith and jeweller, Jaume Mercadé trained at the Francesc Galí School. He settled permanently in Barcelona in 1916, and that same year held his first individual exhibition at the Galeries Layetanas. In 1919, he was appointed professor of jewellery and goldsmithing at the Barcelona School of Arts and Crafts. His work as a goldsmith, decisive in the renewal of this art, earned him a diploma of honour and gold medal at the 1924 Paris Exhibition of Decorative Arts, a grand prize and gold medal at the Barcelona International (1929), a gold medal at the 6th and 9th Milan Triennials, and a grand prize at the 3rd Spanish-American Biennial. His painting places him, to an even greater degree, among the best Catalan artists of the time. Among other distinctions he won the Juan Gris Grand Prize in 1957, the bronze medal for painting at the 1959 Alexandria Biennial and second medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in 1960. Initially trained in Fauvism, he was later influenced by Noucentisme, which tempered the sensuality of his palette. Mercadé knew how to evolve until his last years, focusing his painting on what can be called a measured modernity. His son, Jordi Mercadé Farrés, was also a painter, initially training with his father. Jaume Mercadé is represented in the MACBA, the Contemporary Art Museum of Madrid, the Art Museum of Vilanova i la Geltrú, the museums of Tossa, Mollet del Vallès and Hospitalet de Llobregat and, especially, in the museum of his hometown, Valls, where a room has been dedicated to him.