Josep Puig i Cadafalch

JOSEP PUIG I CADAFALCH (Mataró, 1867- Barcelona, 1958).
Modernist ceiling lamp, ca, 1900.
Brass and 55 leaded glass.
A similar lamp is preserved in the collection of the MNAC (Museo Nacional d'Art de Catalunya), and in the Casa Amatller (Barcelona).
In very good state of preservation.
Measurements: 120 x 30 x 30 cm.

Ceiling lamp designed by Puig i Cadafalch. The extraordinary piece is fully ascribed to Catalan modernism. The lampshade shines with the variety of its stained glass colors, made up of fifty-five glass discs of different shades, leaded with brass. The shade is set in a crown of embossed brass with foliate motifs inspired by shamrocks. The upper stem has a fine sogueado and from it spring floral bouquets of coup-de-fuet type. From the lower body hang filamentous scrolls ending in cross-shaped and lobed flower motifs in the manner of pendants.

Josep Puig i Cadafalch is now remembered as one of the great names of Catalan modernism. He developed his training in Barcelona, where he studied architecture and exact sciences, and shortly after finishing his studies he obtained the position of municipal architect in his native Mataró, with only twenty-four years. It was there that he carried out his first architectural projects, although five years later he returned to Barcelona. There he was appointed professor at the School of Architecture, specializing in hydraulics and resistance of materials. His prestige led him to assume in 1917 the position of president of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, a position from which he developed an ambitious educational and cultural plan that included the promotion of the archaeological excavation of Ampurias. He held the post until 1923. As an architect, Puig i Cadafaclh was a disciple of Lluís Domènech i Montaner, and is considered the last representative of modernism and the first of noucentisme. He began his career within the modernist style of his training, revealing in works such as the Amatller, Martí, Terradas or de les Punxes houses a certain Nordic influence. After this first period, developed between 1895 and 1905, he evolved towards a language that could be defined as rational idealism, based on the tastes of the new haute bourgeoisie, which crystallizes in buildings designed with a more rational and practical criterion, as exemplified by the Trinxet, Muntades and Company houses. Finally, his period of maturity is monumentalist, and develops around the preparation of the Barcelona International Exhibition of 1929, of which Puig i Cadafalch was the main architect. It is now inspired by Roman architecture, although it also incorporates elements typical of Valencia and Andalusia, resulting in an attractive neo-baroque style. In parallel, he also showed great interest in American architecture, and even designed the Pich House inspired by Louis Henry Sullivan. He also developed an important work as an art historian. During the Civil War he went into exile in Paris, and there he devoted himself mainly to teaching architecture and history, being named doctor honoris causa by several universities, including Paris. Upon his return, the new regime did not allow him to work as an architect, so he devoted himself to the restoration of historic buildings.