November 2012 - Barcelona

St Mary Magdalene,
cap a l’any 1470
Tempera on wood 144 x 73 cm
JAUME HUGUET (1412 – 1492)
Virginal she may not be, but with her worldly
and direct gaze, Mary Magdalene is here
painted as a lady of the royal court, with the
attributes of the Virgin Mary. She sits on her
throne, resplendent in the robes of a queen,
holding a rosary, within a gilded frame with
fine fluted columns in the purest Catalan
Gothic style.
The painting confers an air of regal
mystery beyond that of her simple halo.
The light around her face and smooth
folds of her robes show the influence of
Italian naturalism, while the meticulous
detail draws on the Flemish tradition.
The elegance, fragility and refinement
of his work have earned Huguet a place
as one of the greatest Catalan Gothic
painters.
FUNDACIÓ FRANCISCO GODIA
Work acquired by Francisco Godia.
ALSO NOT TO
BE MISSED…
The Spanish Wedding,
1870
MARIÀ FORTUNY (1838 – 1874)
Though he died at 36, Fortuny is considered
the greatest Spanish painter of
the 19th century after Goya. The state
funded his early studies in Rome, and
commissioned large-scale paintings of
the Spanish-Moroccan War of 1859. His
travels in Northern Africa made a huge
impact, turning him into one of Spain’s
greatest Romantic painters of the
Orient. After 1866 he turned to scenes
of Spanish manners and customs, such
as this one, set in a richly decorated
18th-century sacristy.
The Spanish Wedding shows off Fortuny’s
technical virtuosity, his mastery
of light and his fascination with costume
and period details. Considered the
finest example of his mature style, The
Spanish Wedding catapulted its author
to international fame.
MNAC
Acquired by public subscription in 1922.
Cactus Man I, 1939
JULI GONZÁLEZ (1876 - 1942)
A starkly dissected body erupts into
spikes, as World War II breaks out in
Europe. Juli González was a leading
figure in the Parisian avant-garde, and a
pioneer of the use of welding and cutting
techniques to create sculptures in iron.
This fragmented figure, undergoing
its symbolic metamorphosis, breaks
with traditional ideas of symmetry,
creating an interplay of contrasting
forms and suggesting a new concept of
volume. In González’ cubist investigations
he sliced and folded sheet metal,
using iron bars to ‘draw in space’ and
create the wiry artworks that won him
international fame.
MNAC
Donated by Roberta Gonzalez, the artist’s
daughter, in 1972, and became part of
the collection in 1973.
12 Time Out BCN Guide November 2012