Joan Josep Tharrats

JOAN JOSEP THARRATS VIDAL (Girona, 1918 - Barcelona, 2001).
Untitled.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed in the lower right margin and on the back.
Measurements: 55 x 46 cm; 67 x 58,5 cm (frame).

One of the pioneers of the post-war Catalan avant-gardism, Tharrats' painting evolved from a linear abstraction of surrealist influence in his stage of Dau al Set, towards an informalism of rich texture. He had his own version of printmaking techniques (maculatures) that allowed him to achieve fanciful creations. After beginning his training in Béziers (France), in 1935 he returned to Barcelona and entered the Massana School. Co-founder of Dau al Set, he made his individual debut in 1949 at the El Jardín galleries in Barcelona. From 1954 he exhibited regularly at the Sala Gaspar in Barcelona, as well as in 1955 in Stockholm and New York, in 1959 at the São Paulo Biennial, and in Venice at the Biennials of 1960 and 1964. In 1966 he founded the Asociación de Artistas Actuales. In 1983 he was awarded the Cross of Sant Jordi, and in 1994 the National Prize of Plastic Arts. That same year he joined the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Jordi. His work is present in various museums and collections around the world, such as the MoMA and the Guggenheim in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, the MACBA or the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.