Ramon Casas

RAMÓN CASAS CARBÓ (Barcelona, 1866 - 1932).
"Júlia Peraire in the cloister of Sant Benet de Bages", ca. 1914.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
On the back there are two labels from the Sala Parés of two exhibitions with works by the artist 1976 and 1982 (Exhibition Homenatge a Ramon Casas).
Includes certificate of authenticity issued by Adrià Codina, descendant of the heirs of Ramon Casas Carbó.
Provenance: In 1976, Mr. Casacuberta acquires the piece in the Sala Parés with the registration number: 26937/1976. Until then the piece has belonged to his heirs and has been exhibited in the hall of the Casacuberta's house in Castellterçol.
Exhibitions:
Sala Parés, 1915 - Exhibition Casas-Clarasó-Rusiñol.
Sala Parés, 1976 - Homage to Ramon Casas.
Palau de Caramany (Girona), 1976 - Reproduced in the catalog.
Sala Parés, 1982 - Catalan painting, naturalists and post-impressionists 1925-50 period.
Ramon Casas. The modern look, 2016 (Gothsland Galeria d'Art).
Orígens. Ramon Casas Carbó, 2025 (Adrià Codina Art Gallery).
Bibliography:
Ilustració Catalana, January 24, 1915, No. 607, p. 68 (reproduced).
La Tribuna, February 28, 1915 (citation).
Las Noticias, February 28, 1915 (citation).
Ilustración Artística, March 29, 1915, No. 1735, p. 225 (reproduced).
Jaume Socias, Modernismo en Cataluña. Edit. Nuevo Thor, Barcelona, 1976, p. 75 (reproduced).
Isabel Coll, Ramón Casas. Catalog raisonné. De la Cierva publishers. 2003, p. 426 (reproduced).
Isabel Coll, L'inici de la relació Ramón Casas i Sitges. Fundació Ave Maria, Memòria 2007, p. 19 (reproduced).
Measurements: 130 x 98 cm; 150 x 120 cm (frame).

The work "Júlia Peraire in the cloister of Sant Benet de Bages" occupies a prominent place in the production of Ramon Casas made in the monastery of Sant Benet, as it marks the beginning of an artistic evolution that moves from a symbolic and mystical language to more realistic approaches. Made around 1915, the painting represents Júlia Peraire dressed in a nun's habit, gathered in a meditative attitude in the Romanesque cloister full of spiritual resonances. Elements such as the rose bush without flowers, covered only with thorns, reinforce the symbolism associated with sacrifice and spirituality (Coll, 2007). Ramón Casas carefully elaborated both the figure and the architecture of the cloister and the effects of light, creating a poetic and intimate atmosphere, with a more introspective and evocative language close to a symbolist sensibility, in which Júlia once again becomes his model and muse.

The chromatic intensity of the work, articulated in a vibrant range of pink and lime green tones, clearly stands out from other more sober and restrained compositions by Ramón Casas.

Casas's interest in the monastery of Sant Benet dates back to his youth. In 1881, when he was barely fifteen years old, he published a sketch of the cloister in the magazine L'Avenç, founded that same year by Jaume Massó. Decades later, in 1909, the painter's family acquired the monastery - which Casas himself would eventually inherit after the death of his mother - and commissioned the modernist architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch to restore it. This personal and artistic link with Sant Benet explains the relevance that the monastic complex had in the painter's work and the repeated presence of these compositions in exhibitions and publications of the time.

The importance of the work now under auction is confirmed by the wide repercussion it had at the time. It was presented at the Rusiñol, Casas and Clarasó exhibition organized by the Sala Parés in 1915 and received numerous comments and reproductions in the press of the time. Publications such as Las Noticias (February 28, 1915) especially highlighted the effect of light achieved in the figure of the nun, while La Tribuna (February 28, 1915) praised the deeply evocative and poetic character of the composition. This reiterated presence in different publications is evidence of the relevance and impact the work had on the artistic critics of the time.

A preparatory study of the cloister is also preserved, related to the final composition, closer to naturalism and with a different treatment of vegetation and light. Comparing both versions, it can be seen how the artist reduced and compressed the architectural space in the final work to enhance the presence and expressive force of the figure of the nun, making this series a fundamental set to understand both the more symbolic dimension of Ramón Casas and the importance that Júlia Peraire and the monastery of Sant Benet had in his artistic imagination.

A leading figure of modernism and one of the most internationally renowned Spanish artists of his time, Ramón Casas developed a decisive career between Barcelona and Paris, with an early presence at the Salon des Champs Elysées. His work is now part of the main public collections -Museo del Prado, MNAC, Museo Reina Sofía, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, among others-, confirming his position as an essential reference of modern portraiture and Spanish art collecting between the centuries.