Pablo Gargallo

PABLO GARGALLO CATALÁN (Maella, Zaragoza, 1881 - Reus, Tarragona, 1934).
"Adolescent torso". 1933-1934.
White marble.
Unique piece in white marble.
There are also seven examples in bronze, one in terracotta, two in pink marble (one of them in the Museu de Montserrat) and one in black marble.
Signed on the left side.
It has slight damage on the base.
A bronze copy is kept in the Pablo Gargallo Museum in Zaragoza, inventoried in the Digital Catalog of the Pablo Gargallo Museum.
Measurements: 83 x 21 x 24 cm.

"Torso Adolescente" is a marble sculpture, belonging to a very small and carefully selected series within the production of Pablo Gargallo. Of this model we know of one example in terracotta, two in pink marble - one preserved in the Museu de Montserrat -, one in white marble and one in black marble, all made by the artist himself, with the collaboration of stitchers in the case of the marble. Each version has individual finishes and nuances, so that, although they share the same formal approach, they should be considered unique pieces, not mere reproductions.

Throughout his life, Gargallo developed two apparently opposing styles in parallel: one with classical roots, related first to modernism and later to noucentisme, and the other avant-garde, experimenting with the disintegration of space.

This piece, conceived a year before the author's death, represents the female body in a phase of early youth, underlining the transition between childhood and maturity. The figure, deprived of head and arms, focuses on the adolescent body structure, still contained and without the voluptuous fullness of adulthood. The torso is slender and vertical, with a smooth and barely marked belly, soft hips and firm but not overdeveloped thighs. This formal restraint reinforces the idea of adolescence as an intermediate state, a fragile balance between growth and definition. The slight contraposition of the legs introduces a natural rhythm that brings life to the figure without resorting to expressive gestures.

The figure rises frontally, with a slight contraposition of the legs that introduces a soft and natural rhythm, heir to the classical canon. The modeling is sober and refined: the planes of the abdomen, hips and thighs are treated with an economy of detail that avoids the anecdotal to emphasize the essential structure of the body. The marble retains a texture that allows us to perceive the hand of the sculptor and gives the work a restrained and serene physical presence.

The absence of head and upper limbs should not be understood as a casual fragment, but as a conscious choice. Gargallo uses the resource of the torso to explore the human form as an autonomous volume, detached from facial expression or narrative gesture. In this way, the figure acquires an almost architectural character, in which the body becomes a vertical, stable and balanced axis.

This work is situated in Gargallo's early and transitional period, when his work still dialogues intensely with classical sculpture and modernism, before the radical innovation of his famous sculptures in iron and cut metal. In these pieces in marble or stone, Gargallo demonstrates an academic mastery of modeling and a deep understanding of the classical canon, while he begins to simplify forms and seek a volumetric synthesis that anticipates his later evolution.

As a whole, this sculpture constitutes a fundamental testimony of the classic Gargallo sculptor, revealing the technical and conceptual solidity that would underpin, years later, his decisive contribution to modern sculpture.

Pablo Gargallo is represented in the museum that bears his name in Zaragoza, the MoMA in New York, MACBA in Barcelona, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris and the Reina Sofia in Madrid, among many others.