Antoni Gaudí

ANTONI GAUDÍ (Reus or Riudoms, Tarragona, 1852 - Barcelona, 1926).
Column.
Terracotta and wood.
Measurements: 110 x 30 x 30 cm.

This column is a brilliant example of the attention and care that Gaudí paid to the details that decorated his buildings. The organic forms of this column or pedestal are reminiscent of the doorknobs and other details of the Casa Milà or Pedrera, where the ornament merges with the architectural. One of the main ideas of architectural modernism, with which this artist always shared, was the integration of the major and minor arts, that is, the integration of architecture with decoration, furniture and sculpture. This is the modernist concept of organic architecture, according to which Gaudí conceived the building as a living organism, with all its parts harmoniously related, from the façade to the ceiling panels, furniture, lamps, etc., all designed by him down to the last detail. As a student he frequented various craft workshops, where he learned the different trades related to architecture, such as sculpture, carpentry, forging, glass, ceramics and plaster casting. His idea, shared with William Morris, one of the fathers of modernism, was that to design an artistic object you first need to know the working techniques, in order to make the most of the possibilities they offer. In fact, thanks to the artists of modernism, many artistic techniques of the past, which were in danger of being lost in the face of the advance of industrialization, were recovered. This piece is a clear example of this concept of living organism that Gaudí embodied in his buildings. It is about capturing without further artifice the idea of the abstract organic, of the essence of the living, with no intention of referring to reality. The forms of this column seem to thread freely with each other, bubbling with life, in permanent movement, and hence its asymmetrical composition, which avoids any rigidity. Without entirely dispensing with the nod to the baroque tradition, it is nevertheless formally completely innovative; it leaves aside the figurative decoration to give prominence to the living organic mass, as if the architectural element were just another element of nature, as if it had grown spontaneously and was not the result of the hand of man. The forms of this pedestal are lively, organic but not naturalistic in the traditional sense, so that they seem to flow through the piece vertically, developing in freedom and giving the pedestal an asymmetrical shape and soft appearance, typically Gaudí.
The maximum representative of Catalan modernism and, therefore, of Spanish modernism, Gaudí is one of the most outstanding architects and decorators in European history. Already as a child he liked hiking, the direct contact with nature. Having stood out as a child for his drawings, he studied architecture at the Escuela de la Llotja and the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona, where he graduated in 1878. With his first major commission, the Casa Vicens, Gaudí began to acquire renown, and to attract increasingly larger commissions. In 1878 he exhibited at the Universal Exposition in Paris a showcase made for the Comella glove shop. This piece, with its modernist and functional design, impressed the industrialist Eusebi Güell, a key figure in Gaudí's artistic biography. In fact, Güell was, in addition to being Gaudí's great friend, his main patron, and commissioned some of his most outstanding works, such as the Park Güell. In 1883, he accepted the commission to continue the work on the Sagrada Familia; Gaudí completely modified the structure of the Sagrada Família.