Josep Pla-Narbona

JOSEP PLA-NARBONA (Barcelona, 1928-2020)
"Figures". 1969-1970.
Pencil on paper.
Signed and dated.
Measurements: 33 x 43 cm; 46 x 56 cm (frame).

Josep Pla-Narbona was born in Barcelona in 1928, being orphaned of father and mother before the beginning of the Spanish Civil War (1936). His uncles took care of him and his love and aptitude for drawing soon became evident. Very young, in 1945, he worked as an apprentice in advertising drawing workshops (with J. Artigas, R. Fàbregas) while also studying at the School of Arts and Crafts, and at the Conservatory of Book Arts, in Barcelona. In 1956 he spent two years at the Publicité R.L.Dupuy agency in Paris, where he had the opportunity to meet Raymond Savignac. He returned to Barcelona in 1958 to establish his own studio and in 1960 and 1961 he was awarded the Sant Jordi prize by the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc for drawing and painting, respectively. He was appointed professor of Advertising Plastics at the Massana School, and was a founding member and first elected president of the "Grafistas-Agrupación FAD", which today is known as "ADG-FAD". In 1962, Pla-Narbona went to Switzerland to study typographic techniques and worked with the Adolf Wirz advertising agency in Zurich. He produced a series of lithographs for the company ARTA (Zurich). In 1964 he promoted the creation of the LAUS awards. Admitted to the AGI in 1964, he was the first AGI member and first president in Spain. Since then, Pla-Narbona has enjoyed years of great success, exhibitions and awards. Pla-Narbona's designs, drawings and prints have been exhibited in Europe and America including the first International Biennial Poster Exhibition in Warsaw, the opening of the Lincoln Center, and the American Institute of Graphic Arts in New York (USA). In 1972 his graphic work was accepted into the collection of the MoMA in New York (USA). In 1976 he received the first prize in the XVIII International Drawing Competition, Fundació Ynglada-Guillot, Barcelona. Since 1977 he has devoted himself mainly to the fine arts (engraving, painting and drawing). In 2000 he received the Laus de Honor from the ADG-FAD and in 2001 the Design Award from the AEPD (Spanish Association of Design Professionals), and the National Spanish Design Award in 2004, the 2011 Ilustrad'Or award from the Associació Professional d'Il-lustradors de Catalunya and the Gold Medal from the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc (2012, Barcelona).