Rafael Sala Marco

RAFAEL SALA MARCO (Vilanova i la Geltrú, 1891 - Pasadena, California, 1927).
"Coastal City", ca. 1913.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 45 x 54.5 cm.

Between 1911 and 1913, Rafael Sala lived in Munich, an important center of the German avant-garde, where he came into contact with the nascent expressionism and other currents such as cubism and futurism. His formative journey continued in Florence in 1914 with Enric C. Ricart, visiting museums, attending the Academy and interacting with intellectuals close to Futurism. Forced to return to Vilanova by the outbreak of World War I, he exhibited in prominent galleries in Barcelona, such as Dalmau and Laietanes, and joined the Courbet Group, crucial to introduce Fauvism in Catalonia. After the war, his career took an international turn with his trip to New York in 1919, where he became acquainted with the rise of Dadaism, deepened his friendship with Joaquín Torres García and met Marcel Duchamp, who facilitated the acquisition of one of his works by Katherine S. Dreier for the Societé Antoine de la Société d'Art de Paris. Dreier for the Société Anonyme, a collection that became the basis for the future MoMA. Finally, he moved to Mexico, where he became involved with Mexican muralism, especially Diego Rivera, and established a strong relationship with photographers Edward Weston and Tina Modotti.