Marcel Martí

MARCEL MARTÍ BADENES (Alvear, Argentina, 1925–Girona, 2010).
Untitled, 1986.
Patinated bronze, no. 7 of 9.
Signed, dated, and numbered.
Measurements: 53 x 15 x 10 cm.

This sculpture belongs to Marcel Martí’s mature period, during which his abstraction took on a distinctly organic and biomorphic character. The piece exhibits a pronounced verticality through the superimposition of curved volumes, concavities, and protrusions that suggest—without fully depicting it—an anthropomorphic presence of an almost totemic nature.

The intense green patina accentuates the continuity of the surfaces and gives the bronze an almost stony appearance, underscoring Martí’s relationship with essential forms derived from nature. In contrast to his other works with a more compact structure, an upward impulse predominates here, lending the composition a special monumentality despite its modest scale.

Marcel Martí was a leading figure in the postwar Catalan sculptural renewal. From the mid-1950s onward, he focused his work on sculpture and evolved toward abstraction, later developing a language of organic forms with a strong volumetric presence. He received the Manolo Hugué Prize in 1958 and the Julio González Prize in 1960, and created numerous monumental works for public spaces. His body of work is represented, among other institutions, at the Museo de Arte Público in Madrid and the Fundació Vila Casas.