Pere Pruna

PERE PRUNA OCERANS (Barcelona, 1904–1977).
“Circus Scene,” 1934.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 161.8 x 130.2 cm; 168.5 x 136.5 cm (frame).

The world of the circus occupies a particularly evocative place within Pere Pruna’s figurative work; he found in harlequins, acrobats, horsewomen, and showbiz characters an ideal universe in which to develop his unique conception of the human figure, marked by elegance, balance, and a restrained poetic dimension. The work in question is a magnificent example of this approach: a young female circus performer, accompanied by a white horse and an enigmatic masked male figure, stands out monumentally against a neutral background that eliminates any anecdotal elements and focuses all attention on the figures. The stylization of the bodies, the serenity of the faces, and the careful combination of blues, whites, blacks, and warm reddish tones reveal Pruna’s characteristic artistic language, in which modern classicism and the influence of the Parisian avant-garde converge. The composition also evokes the world of Picasso and his famous acrobats—a particularly significant reference in Pruna’s case given the close relationship he maintained with the Malaga-born master during his early years in Paris. Added to this is the artist’s experience as a set and costume designer for major ballet and theater productions, evident here in the almost theatrical nature of the figures’ arrangement and in the refinement of the costumes. Through its subject matter, monumental scale, and meticulous compositional structure, the work synthesizes in a particularly compelling way some of the most recognizable and appreciated features of Pere Pruna’s painting.

Pere Pruna trained at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. After beginning to exhibit in Barcelona while still very young, he traveled to Paris in 1921, where he received support and guidance from Picasso. In the French capital, he held a successful solo exhibition at the Galerie Percier and came into contact with intellectuals such as Cocteau, Drieu la Rochelle, Max Jacob, and others, with whom he founded the magazine *Philosophie* in 1924. Serge Diaghilev commissioned him to create the sets and costumes for the ballet “Les matelots” in 1925. From then on, he also worked on other musical productions. In 1928, he won second prize at the Carnegie Institute exhibition in Pittsburgh; upon his return to Barcelona, he went on to win other awards, such as the prize in the “Montserrat as Seen by Catalan Artists” competition (1931) and the Nonell Prize (1936). The latter prize was surrounded by controversy, as Pruna won it for his oil painting “El vi de Chios,” for which he used a photograph published in a Parisian pornographic magazine as a model. Faced with the uproar this caused, Pruna renounced the prize, but the jury upheld its decision. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Pruna settled in Paris and continued his international exhibition activity, notably with his exhibition organized in London in 1937. His style, centered on a graceful and stylized female figure, draws on the clear delicacy of Picasso’s “Rose Period” and “Neoclassical” works, and reveals certain parallels with the Italian Novecento movement. Pere Pruna’s works are represented in the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, the MNAC, and the Montserrat Museum, as well as in major public and private collections.