Enric Clarasó

ENRIC CLARASÓ I DAUDÍ (Sant Feliu del Racó, 1857 - Barcelona, 1941).
"Child.
White marble.
Signed on the right side of the base.
Measurements: 58 x 14 x 14 cm.

Enchanting sculpture in white marble, representing a child with a mischievous face, wearing a cap and wearing bulging pants resolved with virtuosity. Clarasó works the smoothness and pleats of the clothes with great verism, defining the superimposition of layers, the cotton shirt under the suspenders, etc. The mischievous expression of the little boy also stands out. The image conveys an idea of immediacy and spontaneity very successful thanks to the technical mastery and artistic sensibility, and at the same time this everyday image is coated with a timeless patina. The quality of the finishes, the apparent ductility of the most delicate details and the naturalism of the posture are typical of a great carver.

Clarasó studied at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, where he was a disciple of Joan Roig. In the early eighties he met Santiago Rusiñol and Ramón Casas, with whom he exhibited repeatedly in the Sala Parés. In the middle of this decade his studio became a meeting point for artists, as well as the primitive nucleus of El Cau Ferrat. At this time Clarasó devoted himself to making clay statuettes, portraits and funerary images. He worked in the decoration of the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona in 1888 and, with the profits that this work brought him, he moved with Rusiñol to Paris. He made a second trip two years later, and joined the group formed by Casas, Rusiñol, Utrillo and Ramón Canudes. His work began in anecdotal naturalism, with works such as his "Forjador", to evolve later, after his stays in Paris, towards modernism. He participated in 1892 in the National Exhibition of Madrid, as well as in the Universal Exhibitions of Barcelona (1888), Chicago (1893) and Paris (1900), obtaining in the latter the gold medal for his funerary work "Memento Homo". Within his production stands out the monument to King James I the Conqueror, in Palma de Mallorca. Works by Clarasó are preserved in the MACBA, the National Art Museum of Catalonia and the Cau Ferrat Museum in Sitges.