Margarita Sans Jordi

MARGARITA SANS I JORDI (Barcelona, 1911–2006).
"Rest."
Marble.
Signed.
Measurements: 54 x 60 x 35 cm; 58 cm (height including base).
Exhibitions: MEAM “A Century of Catalan Sculpture,” 2013. Reproduced in the catalog, p. 297.

The sculpture depicts the nude figure of a woman in a reclining position, resting her left arm on a raised geometric block while leaning her torso back and gently tilting her head forward in an attitude of quiet contemplation. Sans i Jordi achieves a delicate balance between the boldness of the body’s volumes and the softness of the female anatomy. The smooth, polished surface of the marble captures the light evenly, highlighting the purity of her curves and the serenity of her face, and inviting a serene and intimate interpretation of the nude. The hallmarks of formal synthesis are reflected in the contrast between the organic fluidity of the female body and the pure, angular lines of the cubic pedestal on which she rests.

The sculptor Margarita Sans i Jordi was a student of Àngels Ferrant and Josep Llimona. She held her first exhibition in Barcelona (1932). After winning the Conde de Cartagena scholarship in Madrid (1936), she went to Paris, where she studied under C. Despiau. She exhibited in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, and elsewhere. Her style can be described as a stylized interpretation of Llimona’s work. She specialized particularly in the female nude and religious sculpture. In 1942, she created sculptures of Abbot Oliva and Saint Benet, intended to preside over the Chapter House of the Monastery of Montserrat, and years later, in 1954, also for the monastery, the monumental Via Crucis ensemble (Sant Benet, a station of the Via Crucis at Montserrat). She also carved two sculptures for the Convalecientes nursing home in Madrid and a sculptural group for a cemetery in Madrid. In 1956, she sculpted *The Mystery of Jesus*, which is carried in the Good Friday procession in Sitges. Works by Margarida Sans are held at the MNAC and the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, as well as in collections in New York and Paris.