Josep Llimona

JOSEP LLIMONA BRUGUERA (Barcelona, 1864 - 1934).
"Ramon Berenguer I".
Bronze.
Signed.
With seal of the Bechini foundry.
Measurements: 78 x 29 x 17 cm.
Exhibitions: MEAM "A century of Catalan sculpture", 2013. Reproduced in the catalog, page 96.

Bronze sculpture representing Ramon Berenguer I, Count of Barcelona, in a solemn and serene attitude. The figure appears erect, full-length, with armor and enveloping royal mantle, holding the hilt of the sword in a firm and restrained gesture. The face, slightly inclined, conveys an introspective intensity that combines authority, seclusion and nobility. Llimona models the work with his characteristic sensitivity, combining naturalism and symbolist lyricism. The treatment of the drapery is especially expressive, generating a play of planes and folds that provide movement and depth. In this Ramon Berenguer I, Llimona recovers the Catalan historical imaginary with heroic solemnity but without excessive grandiloquence, giving the character a human and almost meditative character. The work is related to the interest of the time in national historical figures and fits fully within the monumental and symbolic trend promoted in Catalonia during the first third of the twentieth century.

Josep Llimona is remembered as the most important Catalan sculptor of modernism. Trained at the Llotja School in Barcelona, he obtained the pension to go to Rome in 1880. During his stay in Italy he was influenced by Florentine Renaissance sculpture. With the works he sent from there he obtained prizes (gold medal at the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona in 1888), as well as a great reputation. With his brother Joan he founded the Círculo Artístico de Sant Lluc, a Catalan artistic association of religious character (the two brothers were deep believers). By the mid 90's his style was already drifting towards full modernism. He received the prize of honor at the International Exhibition of Fine Arts held in 1907 in Barcelona. From 1900 he focused on his famous female nudes, and in 1914 he created, in collaboration with Gaudí, his impressive "Resurrected Christ". His artistic genius also manifested itself in large public monuments such as the equestrian statue of St. Jordi in Montjuic Park in Barcelona, as well as in works of funerary imagery, such as the pantheons he created for several cemeteries. In addition to exhibiting in Barcelona and other Catalan cities, he exhibited his work in Madrid, Brussels, Paris, Buenos Aires and Rosario (Argentina). He was president of the Board of Museums of Barcelona between 1918 and 1924, and again from 1931 until his death in 1934. Throughout his life he received numerous decorations, including those awarded by the governments of France and Italy. He also received the Gold Medal of the City of Barcelona in 1932, in recognition of his extraordinary work in the development of museum activity. Llimona's work is preserved in the Monastery of Montserrat, the National Art Museum of Catalonia and the Reina Sofia Museum, among others.