Josep Clarà

JOSEP CLARÀ I AYATS (Olot, Girona, 1878 - Barcelona, 1958).
"The rhythm", 1910.
Patinated bronze sculpture.
Signed on the right side of the base.
A copy of the same model is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art MNAC, Barcelona.
Exhibitions: ""The body and matter in sculpture", European Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), Barcelona. 2019-2020.
Marble foot (with chipping).
Measurements: 56 x 22 x 30 cm (sculpture); 4 x 26 x 32 cm (base).

"The rhythm" is a significant sculpture within the production of Josep Clarà. Two women embraced and wrapped in cloths that melt them, adopt languid dance steps. Their bodies sway to the rhythm of the fabrics, which cover and uncover their torsos, veiling their nudity while revealing it at the same time. Clará's muses show themselves without modesty, but retain an invisible halo of mystery. Their gestures are sensual and yet lack the slightest mannerism. The curves are restrained, far from excessive voluptuousness, while referring us to classical typologies, of Greek origin.

Josep Clarà began his training at the School of Drawing in Olot, with Josep Berga i Boix, and later studied sculpture at the School of Fine Arts in Toulouse, France. After finishing his studies, he went to Paris in 1890, where he worked in the workshop of Louis Barrias and met Maillol, Bourdelle and Rodin. In fact, the advice of the latter helped him to overcome the modernist influences of his early works. In 1907 he presented at the Salon des Artistes Français the work "Torment", a work that denotes a Rodinian influence that in his marble "Twilight" (1913, Museo de Santiago de Chile), whose plaster model he presented at the Salon de la Société Nationale in 1908, is diluted in favor of a greater clarity and serenity. The following year he presented what would be the first of his goddesses, a work that finally represented the definitive official recognition of his talent. During these years, his friendship with the dancer Isadora Duncan allowed him to create his most original and spontaneous drawings; the dynamism of dance did not contradict his search for stability, and brought him a serene light and vivacity. A tireless worker, he received several commissions for monuments, such as "Serenity on the ruins of life" (San Isidro cemetery, Madrid) and "Monument to the Catalan volunteers" (Ciutadella Park, Barcelona). With the model of the latter he won the grand prize in Paris in 1925. At the end of that same year he was appointed member of the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid. Clarà also made heads and portraits, where he showed a condensed and lively language: "Voluntad" (1911), "Clara Stuart Merrill" (1926), "Adela" (1936), "Señorita Rodríguez Bauzà" (1941). As time went by, the sculptor gave more and more importance to light, and his sculptures became simpler, freeing himself from all sentiment, as can be seen in his first "Static", from 1926. With this new vision, in 1928 he reinterpreted "Diosa" and "Serenidad" (Montjuic garden, Barcelona), and created "Reposo" (MACBA), which won him the medal of honor at the International Exhibition of Barcelona (1929). In 1930 Clarà traveled to Greece; two years later he left his residence in Paris and settled permanently in Barcelona. In 1934 he was awarded the Damià Campeny prize for "Desnudo de muchacha". In 1936 he created one of his best works, for the synthesis of simplicity, light and serenity: "Pujanza". He is also the author of the "Monumento a los caídos" (1952) in Barcelona. With the nude "Pomona" (Museum of Havana) he won the grand prize at the 1954 Hispano-American Biennial. In 1946 he made a "San Benito" (Montserrat) that oriented him towards the study of the seated figure. Thus, his last works will be mainly seated maternities and lying figures. In 1969 was inaugurated in Barcelona the museum that bears his name, where a large part of his work is preserved. His work is also present in the Museo Comarcal de la Garrotxa in Olot and in the MNAC.