Ramon Casas

RAMÓN CASAS CARBÓ (Barcelona, 1866 - 1932).
"Anís del Mono", 1898.
Lithographic poster on paper.
Lit. Henrich y Cía. printing.
Measurements: 218 x 111 cm; 229 x 118 cm (frame).

This magnificent poster was printed by Lit. Henrich y Cía. in Barcelona in 1898. Made from the drawing by Casas, this version is the most sought after among collectors because it belongs to the first (very short) print run of posters that was made. Very few copies of these posters have come down to us today because they were used in their entirety to hang them in the streets.

Ramón Casas was an artist famous for his illustrations and portraits, and specifically in his female portraits both aspects of his work converge, since the female figure constituted the very essence of his posters and illustrations. From the very beginning Casas showed a clear predilection for portraiture, and a special mastery in capturing reality through a language that was totally his own, synthetic, expressive and modern, leaving behind the decorativism and symbolism of the prevailing Art Nouveau. In 1899, when he was only thirty-two years old, he inaugurated an anthological exhibition of his work in Barcelona. This exhibition made known to the public his collection of more than one hundred charcoal portraits of personalities of the time, painted that same year. This exhibition consecrated Casas as the best portraitist of his time, thanks not only to his formal mastery, but also to the perfect psychological description of his models. In this case it is a study that the painter made for the work "First you will pass over my corpse" or "Summer Study", preserved in the National Museum of Art of Catalonia.