Carles Nadal

CARLES NADAL FARRERAS (Paris, 1917 - Sitges, 1998).
"Urban view", 1991.
Mixed media drawing on paper.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 24 x 20 cm; 38 x 34 cm (frame).

Son of Santiago Nadal, painter-decorator based in Paris, Carles Nadal lives from childhood in Barcelona, where the family moves due to an illness of the father. At the age of thirteen he began to work as an apprentice in a decorative painting workshop, and in 1936 he received a scholarship from the City Council of Barcelona to study at the School of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was enlisted in the Republican army, with which he fought on the fronts of Aragon and Tremp. After being arrested, he returns to Barcelona under freedom, and there he continues with his artistic career while simultaneously working as a decorator and studying Fine Arts. In 1941 he makes his debut in a collective exhibition at the Dalmau Gallery, obtaining good reviews. He finishes his studies and exhibits individually for the first time in 1944, at the Pinacoteca Gallery in Barcelona. Two years later he moves to Paris, again with a scholarship from the Barcelona City Council. There he works and exhibits with the group Présence de l'Homme, as well as participating in the Salons d'Automne. Later, thanks to a scholarship from the French State, he attends the Paris School of Fine Arts. In 1948 he married Flore Joris, establishing his residence in Brussels, where he remained until the mid-seventies. In Belgium he discovered, as he himself repeatedly stated, light and color. During these years he will continue to show his work in Spain and Belgium as well as in France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Nadal's painting is post-impressionist, intensely colorful, and is based on the search for chromatic force as the most direct means of communication. His awards include the Grand Prix of Spa, Belgium, and his appointment as a member of the Royal Academy of London. His works can be found in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, the Spa Museum in Belgium and the Royal Museum in Brussels.