Enric Casanovas

ENRIC CASANOVAS ROY (Barcelona, 1882 - 1948).
"Eva", Tossa de Mar, 1936.
Bronze. Unique piece.
Signed on the base.
Bechini Foundry.
Provenance: René Metras Gallery.
Attached is a handwritten letter from the sculptor's widow in which she authenticates the work.
There are only two copies cast by the master Bechini and a work made in marble, as certified by Mrs. Casanovas' widow, owner of the original terracotta and that she intends to deliver to the museum.
Measurements: 120 x 39 x 28 cm.

Of a restrained elegance, this feminine figure presents a classic and Mediterranean canon, which responds to the ideal of harmonious, serene and natural beauty so defended by the noucentistes. The posture in slight contrapposto (with the weight of the body shifted on one leg and the other foot raised on a ledge) gives the sculpture a sense of dynamic repose, where the body structure suggests life and balance without tension. The gesture of the right arm, raised with the forearm resting on the head, introduces an air of spontaneity that does not detract from the solemnity of the whole, but contributes to give it an idealized humanity. This ambivalence, between the everyday and the symbolic, is a distinctive feature of Noucentisme: the search for a timeless beauty, where the modern and the classic coexist without friction.

The treatment of the anatomy, with turned limbs and measured proportions, reveals a clear desire for formal synthesis, far from superfluous detail. The face, with serene and simplified features, conveys introspection and emotional restraint, with almond-shaped eyes, short wavy hair and small breasts that reinforce the noucentista ideal of a purified beauty.

The work subtly refers to a Greco-Roman goddess, but it is, rather, a modern Eve, symbol of the eternal woman under a new Mediterranean sensibility, purified and rational. It is presented as a work of great artistic maturity, which accurately condenses the essence of Enric Casanovas' style.

The sculptor Enric Casanovas was one of the main representatives of the Catalan "noucentisme", and his work is characterized by a monumentality inspired by archaic Greek sculpture. He began his training as a disciple of Josep Llimona (1896), and then entered the School of La Lonja in Barcelona (1900). In 1900 he made his first trip to Paris, and on his return he showed his work at Els Quatre Gats (1903). His first participation in an exhibition was at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Zaragoza, in 1898. Between 1904 and 1913 he lived between Paris and Barcelona, in contact with Picasso, Maillol and Gargallo, among other artists. On his return to Barcelona, he opened a workshop, through which he worked with outstanding figures such as Rebull, Fenosa, Granyer and Viladomat. In 1910 he participated in the first exhibition of "Les Arts i els Artistes", an association of which he became president. That same year he exhibited at the Faianç Català, and shortly after he traveled to London and Belgium (1912). During these years he joined the team of the School of Decoration directed by Joaquín Torres-García (1914). In 1920 he obtained a special room at the Fine Arts Exhibition, and in 1922 he took part in the Exhibition of Catalan Artists in Amsterdam. Five years later he showed his work in Italy, and in 1929 he won the gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona. In 1932 he enters the Academy of Fine Arts of San Jorge, and in 1935 he obtains the Campeny prize of the Generalitat de Catalunya. After working from 1936 as director of the Museum of Tossa, between 1939 and 1943 he lived in exile in France, although he finally spent his last years in his native Barcelona. Casanovas produced works for private individuals as well as public commissions, an example of which is his "Female Figure" in Plaza Cataluña in Barcelona. His work is currently preserved in the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the Municipal Museum of Tossa de Mar, the Jaume Morera Art Museum in Lleida, the Luis Perlotti Sculpture Museum in Buenos Aires and the MACBA.