Joan Llimona

JOAN LLIMONA BRUGUERA (Barcelona, 1860 - 1926).
"Young man".
Pencil drawing, charcoal and chalk on paper.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 73 x 54 (paper); 86 x 67 cm (frame).

In this drawing, executed in charcoal with details in chalk, Joan Llimona captures a moment of intimacy. The female figure is seated on a bench with simple lines that reinforce the tranquil atmosphere of the scene. Her long dress, which falls in natural folds to almost hide her feet, brings elegance and at the same time directs attention to the woman's gesture and expression. Joan Llimona was born into a family of artists, his brother Josep was a famous sculptor also within modernism. He began studying architecture and engineering, but soon abandoned them for painting, which he perfected at the School of La Lonja, in Barcelona, and later in Rome, where between 1880 and 1882 he accompanied his brother, who had won a scholarship to study sculpture in that city. As early as 1882 he participated in some group exhibitions in Barcelona, which culminated in 1890 in a personal exhibition at the Sala Parés, which was extraordinarily well received. Deeply influenced by his militant Catholicism, which led him to a confrontation with the writer Raimon Casellas, he painted numerous works of religious content, including the vault of the Monastery of Montserrat. Llimona headed the Catholic split within the modernist movement, which materialized in the foundation of the Círculo de Sant Lluc in 1893. In 1896 he won a first medal at the Fine Arts Exhibition in Barcelona. Towards 1905 his work was influenced by symbolism, always with religious roots, which is reflected, for example, in the painting of the dining room of the Casa Recolons in Barcelona. An excellent draughtsman, he oriented his work towards a religious mysticism of great sentimental charge, of careful form and contained expressiveness, deeply evocative. He published several articles in Barcelona magazines and newspapers such as "La veu de Catalunya", "La barretina", "Catalunya social" and others, almost always on aesthetic issues related to his rigid concept of morality and against blasphemy. He was a member of the Lliga del Bon Mot (literally, League of the Good Word), and of Foment de la Pietat Catalana, both associations defending a conservative concept of morality. He carried out important mural commissions for several Catalan churches, and is currently represented in the Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona and in the Archive-Museum of Ripoll, as well as in important private collections.