Joan Cardona

JOAN CARDONA I LLADÓS (Barcelona, 1877 - 1957).
"Parisian café scene".
Coloured pencils on paper.
Signed in the lower right-hand corner.
Size: 30 x 23 cm; 63 x 56 cm (frame).
Joan Cardona offers us in this drawing an image totally representative of his style. Considered as one of the most renowned and internationally famous artists, his Parisian illustrations, elegant and glamorous, gave name to the 'Cardona style' in the Belle Époque period. From 1900, when he settled in Paris, until 1914, when the First World War sent him back to Barcelona, he was one of the most renowned illustrators in the French capital. On this occasion Cardona depicts an elegant, naturalistic and spontaneous image, a faithful reflection of Parisian social life. Following his own particular style, Cardona sets the characters in the context of a café. In the foreground, a young lady dressed in the fashion of the time, wearing a feathered hat and shawl, chats in a relaxed manner in front of a table on which rests her purse and the cocktail she is drinking. In the background, Cardona depicts two elegantly dressed gentlemen, a device typical of the modernist painter, who preferred to populate the backgrounds with secondary figures to provide a clear view of the leisure environments in which he set his scenes.
Trained at the Escola de Belles Arts de la Lonja and at the Baixeras Academy in Barcelona, he furthered his studies in Paris, where he settled for several years. In the French capital he formed a group with the best illustrators of the time, such as Cappiello, Sem, Steinlen and Roubille. A painter and draughtsman, he developed an important activity in the field of illustration, collaborating with Spanish magazines such as "El Gato Negro" and "Hispania", and in the French magazines "Le Rire" and "Simplicissimus". His collaboration with "Jugend", the flagship magazine of Viennese modernism, the Jugendstil, stands out. During his Parisian period Cardona achieved international fame thanks to his pen drawings, characterised by the sharpness of the line and strong expressive values. On the contrary, in his painting he subordinates line to colour, with warm tones in his early years and cold ranges in his maturity. His paintings, of great expressive force and dense impasto, define the leading role of the woman, who is outlined against vibrant, almost abstract backgrounds, in a style that brings him close to Anglada Camarasa. In 1897 he was awarded a prize in the competition organised by the Mariana Academy of Lleida. He exhibited in Paris at the Salons d'Automne and the Salons de la Societé Nationale, obtaining the title of "societaire" at both. He took part in the International Fine Arts Exhibitions in Barcelona in 1907 and 1929. He is represented in the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris.