Joan Rebull

JOAN REBULL (Reus, 1899 – Barcelona, 1981).
"Cap de càntir."
Patinated terracotta.
Measurements: 50 x 26 x 20 cm.

This work is an eloquent example of the most personal work by Joan Rebull, an artist who developed an aesthetic language with classical roots, based on the principles of nobility, beauty, and proportion—yet one that employs an idealization and simplification of forms in keeping with the avant-garde rather than the models of Classical Antiquity.

Considered the most prominent Catalan sculptor of his time, Joan Rebull began his career in sculpture in his hometown under the guidance of the sculptor Pau Figueres. In 1915, he moved to Barcelona to begin his artistic training at the La Lonja School of Fine Arts, while also working in the studio of the marble craftsman Bechini. In 1916, he held his first solo exhibition at the Reus Reading Center, and the following year, together with other artists, he founded the group known as “Els Evolucionistes,” which sought to counter the Catalan Noucentisme movement. Awarded a scholarship by the Artistic Circle, in 1921 he traveled to London and Paris, cities where he was particularly struck by the ancient art housed in their museums. Between 1926 and 1929, he lived in the French capital and participated in the Salon des Indépendants, though he also submitted works to exhibitions in Barcelona. In Paris, he was the first artist to be represented by the prominent Catalan art dealer Joan Merli. Upon his return, he was named president of the new Montjuïc Salon (1932) and a member of the Sant Jordi Academy (1934); he participated in various exhibitions in Madrid and Barcelona, and in 1938, he won the Campeny Prize at Barcelona’s Autumn Salon. After the war, he went into exile in Paris, where he actively participated in the art scene, taking part in the exhibition “Le Jeune Sculpture Française” and the Salons d’Automne. He returned to Barcelona in 1948, and three years later won a grand prize at the First Hispano-American Art Biennial in Madrid. In 1962, he was appointed professor at the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts, and shortly before his death, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia. A product of Noucentista perfectionism and a master draftsman, Rebull worked with great technical mastery and confidence in the path he had chosen. His sculpture is direct and free of rhetoric, based on a serene and essential vision of reality. His style can be defined as a return to the roots of classicism, though he never merely copies its conventions. His work is represented in the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the Reina Sofía National Center, Barcelona City Hall, the Monastery of Montserrat, and the Palau de la Música Catalana, among other institutions.