Joan Busquets

JOAN BUSQUETS I JANÉ (Barcelona, 1874 - 1949).
Pair of modernist armchairs, ca. 1900-1910.
Walnut, mahogany, Hungarian ash, marquetry of 15 fruit woods and mother-of-pearl.
Seat and back upholstered in silk fabric.
Exhibits wear consistent with age and use. In need of refinishing and one of them in need of restoration.
They have a metal plate from the workshop of Joan Busquets.
Measurements: 88 x 70 x 55 cm.

Pair of armchairs representative of Barcelona Modernism, designed by Joan Busquets, one of the great cabinetmakers and decorators of the period. The pieces present an organicist design, characterized by a perimeter of sinuous and continuous lines that integrate the oval of the backrest, the enveloping curve of the armrests and the openwork crosspieces, deliberately eliminating all angularity.

The hardwood structure is enriched with marquetry and mother-of-pearl inlay, subtly applied to accentuate the rhythm and movement of the design. Small carved motifs in the form of curls and rosettes decorate armrests and backrests, providing a refined ornamental accent without compromising the elegance of the whole. The upholstered backrests, with a circular profile, reinforce both the comfort and the visual softness of the pieces.

From a stylistic point of view, these armchairs fully reflect the influence of Art Nouveau, reinterpreted from a local sensibility, and respond to the modernist conception of furniture as a total work of art, conceived to integrate harmoniously into the bourgeois interiors of the early twentieth century. Their quality and design place them in line with the production of Joan Busquets today preserved in institutions such as the National Art Museum of Catalonia, the Güell Palace or the Museum of Catalan Modernism.