Joan Borrell

JOAN BORRELL NICOLAU (Pobla de Segur, 1888 - Barcelona, 1951).
"Portrait of Mercé Plantada", 1925.
Marble.
Signed and dated.
Measurements: 60 x 50 x 30 cm.
Exhibitions: MEAM "A century of Catalan sculpture", 2013. Reproduced in the catalog, p. 132.

The sculptor Juan Borrell Nocolau studied at La Llotja in Barcelona and in the workshop of the brothers Agapito and Venancio Vallmitjana. In 1909 he traveled to Paris, where he stayed for a few years, and in 1917 he settled in Madrid, although he kept an open workshop in Barcelona. From 1939 he settled in Palma de Mallorca. He is an artist who worked mainly with an expressive form of naturalistic type. His wide production was mainly developed in Barcelona, the Balearic Islands and Madrid, developing compositions for commemorative monuments, portraits, drawings, etc.
He regularly participated in exhibitions in the Sala Pares and in the Palace of Fine Arts in Barcelona and in several Spring exhibitions in the city, in the Crystal Palace in Madrid in 1926, in the Museum of Modern Art or in the Circle of Fine Arts, in Paris, etc. He was appointed member of the Royal Academy of San Jordi in 1950 presenting an exhibition of his works and a memoir entitled "Serenity, lasting value of the plastic arts".