Josep Maria Rovira-Brull

JOSEP MARIA ROVIRA-BRULL (Barcelona, 1926 – Mataró, 2000).
“Iberian Circumstance II,” 1977.
Acrylic on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
On the back, a label from Sala Gaudí, Barcelona, with the work’s details.
Measurements: 73 x 92 cm.

“Circunstancia Ibérica II” belongs to the period in which Rovira-Brull consolidated a surrealist-rooted artistic language, steeped in irony, symbolism, and social criticism. It was precisely in the 1970s that his painting evolved from Informalism toward a fantastical and deeply personal figurative style, characterized by its strong critical and poetic elements.

The scene brings together, against a backdrop of seemingly uninhabited urban architecture, a deliberately disconcerting array of human and animal figures. The precision with which these elements are depicted is a hallmark of Rovira-Brull’s style, which uses absurd associations to construct unsettling images without subjecting them to a closed narrative. The title and date allow us to connect this universe with his reflection on Spanish reality and its social tensions, transformed through satire into an open allegory.

The piece is also representative of a particularly influential period in the artist’s career: during the second half of the 1970s, Rovira-Brull participated in international exhibitions dedicated to Spanish fantastic realism and in successive editions of the Basel International Art Fair, while maintaining a close relationship with the Sala Gaudí in Barcelona.

Josep Maria Rovira-Brull was a singular figure in the second wave of the Catalan avant-garde, capable of combining artistic experimentation, surrealist imagination, and a sustained critical consciousness. Initially associated with the Sílex group alongside Eduard Alcoy, Hernández Pijuan, Carles Planell, and Terri, he was also highly active as a sculptor. Based in Mataró, he became closely tied to the city’s cultural life; in 2026, Ca l’Arenas Museu de Mataró dedicated a commemorative exhibition to him marking his centennial, bringing together more than a hundred original works. He is also the creator of the monumental *Laia l’Arquera*, which has become one of the symbols of Mataró.