Martí Llauradó

MARTI LLAURADÓ MARISCOT (Barcelona, 1903–1957).
“Female Figure.”
Plaster.
Signed.
Measurements: 73 x 40 x 28 cm.
This sculpture clearly demonstrates the progress that Llauradó’s work represented in relation to Noucentisme. The sculptor moves beyond the archaic and symbolic idealization of the previous generation, delving into the creation of an intimate portrait through a more descriptive and narrative approach—in short, a more realistic one—which nevertheless does not neglect the formal foundations learned from the Noucentists. Thus, the figures are bold and monumental—an effect that Llauradó achieves not through traditional techniques, such as a low viewpoint, but through a wholly sculptural sense of form, featuring voluminous and forceful shapes, precise and clear while gently idealized, going beyond portraiture to capture an ideal through an everyday image.
During his youth, the sculptor Martí Llauradó worked with Joan Borrell and Joan Rebull, from whom he drew significant influence. In 1929, he made his debut with his first solo exhibition in Barcelona, alongside Joan Commeleran. From then on, he continued to exhibit his work and participate in competitions, and in 1933 he won an award at the Nude Exhibition of the Barcelona Artistic Circle. The following year, he won first prize at the National Fine Arts Exhibition in Madrid. In the postwar period, he won other major awards in cities such as Seville (for religious art), Madrid, and Barcelona, and was invited to participate in two editions of the Venice Biennale. Llauradó was a leading figure of the younger generation of the Post-Noucentisme movement, and he tempered the stylized idealism of the Noucentists with an emphasis on realism. His work is currently on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona.