Josep Granyer

JOSEP GRANYER GIRALT (Barcelona, 1899 - 1983).
"Armadillo armado".
Mixed media on paper.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 20,5 x 16,5 cm; 36 x 32 cm (frame).

Josep Granyer's animal drawings are characterized by a synthetic, elegant and deeply expressive style, in which he combines naturalistic observation with a marked humorous and ironic sensibility. Rather than representing animals in a strictly realistic manner, Granyer sought to capture their personality and turn them into almost human characters, endowed with recognizable gestures, attitudes and emotions.

Josep Granyer was trained at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, where his artistic personality soon took on a style all his own. An outstanding sculptor, he also cultivated drawing, engraving and illustration. In 1917 he founded the group Los Evolucionistas, and was an active member of the Barcelona avant-garde of the time. He traveled to Paris, London and Belgium, and after the Civil War he focused on animalistic sculpture in which animals adopted human attitudes not lacking in irony. Some examples are "The Sitting Bull" and "The Flirtatious Giraffe", both on the Rambla de Cataluña in Barcelona. Granyer is currently represented at the Museo Patio Herreriano in Valladolid and the MACBA in Barcelona, among others.