Josep de Togores

JOSEP DE TOGORES (Cerdanyola del Vallès, 1893 - Barcelona, 1970)
"Family Curzio".1931.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower left corner.
Provenance: galerie Simon, Paris.
With labels of the gallery Joan Gaspar of Barcelona and Simon of Paris.
Measurements: 118 x 81 cm; 128 x 86 cm (frame).

In "Famille Curzio", Togores presents a collective portrait of great psychological intensity, articulated by means of a frontal and sober composition that concentrates the attention on the figures. The characters are arranged on different planes, generating a structure that brings balance and solidity to the whole. The red background reinforces the prominence of the figures and accentuates the emotional dimension of the scene.

The painting evidences the artist's transition stage towards a figuration of great formal clarity, where the simplification of volumes and the sculptural treatment of the bodies reveal the assimilation of the lessons of Cézanne and Parisian modernity.

The figures, with concentrated and expressive faces, convey an introspective atmosphere that gives the work an almost monumental character despite the fact that it is a domestic scene.

Made in 1931, at a key moment in Togores' career. The provenance of the Galerie Simon in Paris, linked to Kahnweiler, underlines the Parisian context in which the artist achieved an important international projection.

Josep de Togores was one of the leading figures of 20th century Catalan painting. Trained in Barcelona, he furthered his studies in Paris, where he came into contact with the avant-garde and with artists such as Picasso. During the 1920s he worked with the famous art dealer Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler.

From the thirties he returned to a figuration of great formal solidity, becoming one of the most sought after portraitists of Catalan society. His work is preserved in important institutions such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid), the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (Barcelona), the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (Madrid), the Getty Museum (Los Angeles) and the Centre Pompidou (Paris), among others.