Josep Llimona

JOSEP LLIMONA BRUGUERA (Barcelona, 1864–1934).
"Youth," c. 1924.
Bronze.
Signed. With the Bechinni foundry stamp.
Measurements: 48 x 32 x 29 cm.
Exhibitions: MEAM “Josep Llimona,” 2015. Reproduced in the catalog, p. 138.

A bronze sculpture depicting a nude young woman in an intimate and contemplative pose, seated with her legs crossed as she gathers her hair with both hands. The figure, with a gentle expression and an introspective gaze, embodies the serenity, purity, and delicacy that characterize Josep Llimona’s most mature work. The surface has been meticulously treated, resulting in a smooth, luminous finish that enhances the sense of spirituality and idealized beauty. The elegantly balanced composition combines anatomical naturalism with poetic stylization, reflecting the sculptor’s characteristic symbolist language: a sense of inner contemplation and refined emotional sensitivity. *Youth* fits squarely within his recurring thematic repertoire—the young female figure as an emblem of purity and restrained emotion—and stands as a magnificent example of his technical mastery and unmistakable aesthetic sensibility.

Josep Llimona is remembered as the most important Catalan Modernist sculptor. Trained at the Llotja School in Barcelona, he received a scholarship to study in Rome in 1880. During his stay in Italy, he was influenced by Florentine Renaissance sculpture. The works he sent from there earned him awards (including a gold medal at the 1888 Barcelona World’s Fair) as well as a strong reputation. Together with his brother Joan, he founded the Sant Lluc Artistic Circle, a Catalan artistic association with a religious character (both brothers were deeply devout). By the mid-1890s, his style had already shifted toward full-fledged Modernism. He received the honorary prize at the International Fine Arts Exhibition held in Barcelona in 1907. Beginning in 1900, he focused on his famous female nudes, and in 1914, in collaboration with Gaudí, he created his impressive “Risen Christ.” His artistic genius was also evident in large public monuments such as the equestrian statue of Saint George in Montjuïc Park in Barcelona, as well as in funerary art, such as the mausoleums he designed for various cemeteries. In addition to exhibiting in Barcelona and other Catalan cities, he showed his work in Madrid, Brussels, Paris, Buenos Aires, and Rosario (Argentina). He served as president of the Barcelona Museum Board from 1918 to 1924, and again from 1931 until his death in 1934. Throughout his life, he received numerous honors, notably those awarded by the governments of France and Italy. He also received the Gold Medal of the City of Barcelona in 1932, in recognition of his extraordinary work in the development of museum activities. Works by Llimona are preserved at the Monastery of Montserrat, the National Art Museum of Catalonia, and the Reina Sofía Museum, among others.