Joan Josep Tharrats

JOAN JOSEP THARRATS I VIDAL (Girona, 1918–Barcelona, 2001).
"Characters," ca. 1955.
Ink and collage on paper.
Signed.
The paper has creases.
Measurements: 18 x 21 cm; 26.5 x 26.5 cm (frame).

A work on paper in which Tharrats combines ink and collage within a style closely linked to the postwar Catalan avant-garde. The composition is built from fragments of paper, printed textures, and cut-out figures, creating an enigmatic, almost theatrical scene in which various characters are situated in an ambiguous space, somewhere between the theatrical and the dreamlike.

Tharrats transforms collage into a realm of free associations, close to the spirit of *Dau al Set*, where found images, graphic elements, and symbols are integrated into a highly experimental composition.

The piece dates to a pivotal moment in the artist’s career, around the 1950s, when his work was shifting from the surreal and magical experiments of Dau al Set toward a more material and informalist exploration.

Joan Josep Tharrats i Vidal was a painter, art theorist, publisher, and one of the key figures in the postwar Catalan artistic renewal. He was a driving force behind the Dau al Set group and magazine, alongside Joan Brossa, Modest Cuixart, Joan Ponç, Arnau Puig, and Antoni Tàpies—a pivotal platform for the revival of the avant-garde in Barcelona in the late 1940s. His work evolved from abstraction with surrealist roots toward Informalism, and he is particularly noted for his famous “maculaturas.” His work is represented in collections such as the MACBA in Barcelona, the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, the MoMA and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Tate Gallery in London.