José María Sert

JOSÉ MARÍA SERT (Barcelona, 1874 - 1945).
Sketch for "Montserrat", whose final work is part of the panels "Catalan Evocations", destined to one of the halls of the landscaped attic of the first building erected in Via Laietana belonging to Francesc Cambó.
Oil on paper.
Final work referenced in "José M. Sert. His life and work", Alberto del Castillo and Alexandre Cirici, Ed. Argos, Barcelona, 1947, pages 134-136.
Measurements: 13.5 x 27.5 cm (paper).

Josep Maria Sert, muralist painter, and Francesc Cambó, Catalan politician and patron of the arts, maintained a very close relationship based above all on patronage, friendship and cultural collaboration. Cambó was one of Sert's main protectors and promoters. Thanks to his economic and social support, the painter was able to develop his international career, especially at a time when large decorative commissions required important contacts and funding. In gratitude, Sert painted five panels for Cambó - the series known as Catalan Evocations - for one of the halls in the garden attic of the first building erected on the Via Laietana, owned by Cambó himself.

Trained with Benito Mercadé and Pere Borrell, Sert was a member of the Círculo Artístico de Sant Lluc. In 1908 he decorated the Sala de los Pasos Perdidos of the Palace of Justice in Barcelona, and in 1910 he presented at the Salon d'Automne in Paris the mural decoration of the ballroom of the Marquis of Alella (Barcelona) and decorated the music room of the Princess of Polignac in Paris. In the following years he worked for Queen Victoria Eugenia (Santander) and for Robert Rotschild (Chantilly). He made new murals for important houses in Park Lane (England), Buenos Aires, Palm Beach and Paris, and in 1926 he made, before a great expectation, an exhibition of his works for the cathedral of Vic in the Jeu de Paume in Paris. In 1927, with the support of his friend and protector Francesc Cambó, he completed the main part of the cathedral's decoration, which was completed with the construction of the lunettes between 1928 and 1929. In 1930 he was named a member of the Academy of San Fernando, and in the following years he worked all over the world, creating important murals such as those at the Waldorf Astoria.