Josep Maria Subirachs

JOSEP MARIA SUBIRACHS SITJAR (Barcelona, 1927-2014).
"Moira".
Resin and bronze plated.
Signed and numbered, ed. HC 15/15.
Measurements: 28 × 23 × 7.8 cm.

Includes a certificate signed by Espai Subirachs and the book, in Catalan, Subirachs, with texts by Judit Subirachs-Burgaya, Francesc Fontbona and Daniel Giralt-Miracle. It comes in a wooden box-case.
Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar was one of the most outstanding Catalan artists of the 20th century. Sculptor, draftsman and engraver, he was formed between the workshop of a gilder, the apprenticeship with Enric Monjo and the decisive teaching of Enric Casanovas. From a very young age he exhibited in Barcelona and Girona, and soon began an international career with stays in Paris and Belgium and presence in biennials and exhibitions in Europe and America.
His work evolved from the initial noucentisme towards an expressionist language and, later, towards abstraction. He was a pioneer in the incorporation of abstract sculpture into Barcelona's public space, with works such as Forma 212 and Evocación marinera. Throughout his career he created numerous monuments and architectural interventions in Catalonia, Spain and abroad, often integrating sculpture and architecture in the same project.
Among his best known public works are monuments dedicated to Monturiol, Pompeu Fabra, Ramon Llull, Pau Casals, Salvador Espriu and Francesc Macià. However, the project that gave him the greatest projection, and also the most controversy, was the sculptural ensemble of the façade of the Passion of the Sagrada Familia, on which he worked between 1987 and 2005.
Subirachs used a great diversity of materials -bronze, iron, stone, wood, marble, glass or aluminum, among others- and also excelled in disciplines such as etching, lithography or silkscreen printing. His work, sober and intellectual, is characterized by technical rigor, the use of formal tensions, hallmarks, irony and a strong symbolic charge. With a very personal style and few visible influences, he imposed a new way of understanding sculpture in Catalonia and contributed decisively to bringing the avant-garde to the street.
Throughout his career he received numerous awards, such as the Creu de Sant Jordi, the Gold Medal of the Ministry of Culture and the Gold Medal for Artistic Merit of Barcelona. He was also a member of leading academies of fine arts and the subject of several retrospective exhibitions.