Albert Ràfols-Casamada (2 February 1923 – 17 December 2009) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

painter, poet and art teacher involved in the vanguard movements of his time. He is considered one of the most important, multifaceted Catalan artists of his time. His artwork began in the post-

expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

, figurative sphere but soon developed into his own abstract style grounded in a poetic rendering of everyday reality.

Biography

Albert Ràfols-Casamada was born in 1923 in the Barcelonese neighborhood of

Gràcia Gràcia () is a district of the city of Barcelona, Spain. It comprises the neighborhoods of Vila de Gràcia, Vallcarca i els Penitents, El Coll, La Salut and Camp d'en Grassot i Gràcia Nova. Gràcia is bordered by the districts of Eixample to th ...

, to the painter Albert Ràfols i Cullerés and to Josefina Casamada i Oliver. Ràfols-Casamada began studying architecture at the University of Barcelona (1942–44), but by 1948, he had definitively decided on quitting his architecture studies to take up painting professionally. He began exhibiting his artwork in 1946 at the Sala Pictòria in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, in a group exhibit of the artists' collective ''Els Vuit'' ("The Eight", comprising the poet Jordi Sarsanedas, the sculptor Miquel Gusils, the musician Joan Comellas and the painters Joan Palà, Maria Girona, Ricardo Lorenzo, Vicenç Rossell and himself) and he continued to exhibit regularly from then until his death. Indeed, the very following year at the same gallery, he already had his first individual exhibit. He received a scholarship from the French government to study art in Paris in 1950, together with his future wife, the painter Maria Girona, and other Catalan artists such as

Josep Guinovart Josep Guinovart i Bertran (20 March 1927 in Barcelona – 12 December 2007 in Barcelona) was a Spanish painter most famous for his informalist or abstract expressionist work. In 1941, he began to work as a decorator. Three years later, he sta ...

Antoni Tàpies Antoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tápies (; 13 December 1923 – 6 February 2012) was a Catalan People, Catalan painter, sculptor and art theorist, who became one of the most famous European artists of his generation. Life The son of Jo ...

and

Xavier Valls Francesc Xavier Valls Subirà (18 September 1923 in Barcelona – 16 September 2006 in Barcelona) was a Spanish painter who lived in Paris most of his life. He specialised in still lifes. His work can be found in museums in Spain. He was the fath ...

, and spent most of the next 4 years there before returning to Catalonia. He exhibited widely throughout Europe and North and South America. In 2001, his work was the object of a

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...

at the

Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art The Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art ( ca, Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, , MACBA) is a contemporary art museum situated in the Plaça dels Àngels, in El Raval, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The museum opened to the publi ...

and the

Valencian Institute of Modern Art Valencian () or Valencian language () is the official, historical and traditional name used in the Valencian Community (Spain), and unofficially in the Carche, El Carche comarca in Región de Murcia, Murcia (Spain), to refer to the Romance lan ...

, and he also received a tribute at the National Museum of Catalan Art in 2009. He began writing poetry in 1939, writing in parallel to his art activities, and began publishing in 1972, when the limited-edition volume, ''Com una capsa'', came out. In 1976, the anthology ''Signe d'aire. Obra poètica 1968–1978'' came out to great critical acclaim. He continued publishing his poetry until the year 2004, when the last volume, ''Dimensions del present (2001–2004)'' (Vic: Eumo / Barcelona: Cafè Central) came out. In 1952, he married the Catalan painter Maria Girona Benet, whom he had met in 1945 at the Tàrrega Art School (Acadèmia de dibuix Tàrrega) in Barcelona, where he began studying art. In 1967, together with Girona and other Catalan intellectuals, he co-founded the art and design school EINA – in the Bauhaus tradition – in Barcelona, which he directed for 17 years. He also taught art there and in other places. In December 2015 the family of Albert Ràfols-Casamada and Maria Girona offered as a donation to the

Library of Catalonia The Library of Catalonia ( ca, Biblioteca de Catalunya, ) is the Catalan national library, located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The primary mission of the Library of Catalonia is to collect, preserve, and spread Catalan bibliographic producti ...

(BC) the personal fund of the two artists, which includes graphic materials, manuscripts and printed matter. Maria Fuchs Girona, on behalf of her sister Margarita Rosa Fuchs Girona, temporarily deposited the fund in the Library of Catalonia, while the final donation was formalized. Until now, the funds, textual and bibliographic, of the artists were located in different spaces.

Works of art

Ràfols-Casamada exhibited worldwide and his works are present in many museums throughout the world, including, among others, the

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: Locations Americas * The Solomon R. Guggenhei ...

in New York, the

Centre Georges Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

in Paris, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

in London, the Mie Prefectural Art Museum in Japan,

The Meadows Museum The Meadows Museum, nicknamed "Prado on the Prairie", is a two-story, 66,000 sq. ft.art museum in Dallas, Texas on the campus of Southern Methodist University (SMU). Operating as a division of SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, the museum houses one ...

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas, Museo Nacional de Arte Contemporáneo Rufino Tamayo in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid, Museo de Arte Abstracto in Cuenca, the IVAM in València, the Museu d’Art Contemporani in

Eivissa Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its la ...

and the Museu de l'Anunciata in

Alacant Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in the ...

, and in

, the Fundació Joan Miró, MNAC (part of the Museu d'Art Modern collection) as well as the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). Some of his works in the MACBA collection include: * ''Interior amb figura'', oil on canvas, 1951 * ''Blau profund'', oil on canvas, 1959 * ''Pintura'', paint on linen canvas, 1960 * ''Estampa popular. PIM PAM PUM'', woodcut on paper, 1965 * ''Estampa popular. Monumento al diálogo'', woodcut on paper, 1966 * ''Construcció'', paint on wood and cardboard, 1966 * ''Pintura 2 (Homenatge a Joan Miró)'', mixed media on canvas, 1971 * ''Vuit vents de Cadaqués (Tramuntana, Gregal, Llevant, Xaloc, Migjorn, Garbí, Ponent, Mestral)'', etching, 1977 * ''Sota l'enramada (migdia)'', vinyl paint and charcoal on canvas, 1982 * ''Jardí d'agost'', acrylic on canvas, 1982 * ''La Catedral'', vinyl paint and charcoal on canvas, 1982 * ''Interiors 5'', lithograph, 1982 * ''Interiors 6'', lithograph, 1982 * ''Interiors 9'', lithograph, 1982 * ''Rosa sostingut'', acrylic and charcoal on canvas, 1983 * ''Entre les fulles'', acrylic on canvas, 1984 * ''Abril 1'', etching, 1985 * ''Abril 3'', etching, 1985
''Barcelona Triangle''
acrylic on canvas, 1987 * ''Crepuscular'', acrylic on canvas, 1988 * ''Dins el roig'', acrylic on canvas, 1989 * ''Banda groga'', acrylic on canvas, 1990 * ''Sageta'', acrylic on canvas, 1990 * ''Sense títol. Carpeta XXV Artistes Catalans, Sevilla 92'', lithograph, 1992 * Untitled, engraving, 1996 * ''Tensió'', acrylic on canvas, undated * ''Ganivet i forquilla'', oil on canvas, undated In addition, his work is present in the form of murals in public spaces in

("Les quatre estacions" (The Four Seasons, 1982), ceiling of the hall named after the painting and used as the Tourist Information Office in Barcelona City Hall; and two murals for the Palau Sant Jordi sports pavilion, 1992) and Lyon (Untitled, 2000, Forum of the École Normale Supérieure de Lettres et Sciences Humaines), as well as in private spaces such as his own home in Barcelona. He also created several pieces in stained glass, such as the Virgen del Camino Sanctuary in León (1959) and the Benlloc Residence in La Roca del Vallès (1965). The stained glass windows he created for the Piscines Sant Jordi swimming facilities (1966, Barcelona) have not been preserved.

Publications

As a writer, Albert Ràfols-Casamada was particularly known for his poetry, though he also wrote some of his thoughts on art in art theory pieces and in his diaries. The great majority of his work was written in

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

, though he did publish a book on painting in Spanish, as well as several articles in Spanish. He published texts and artwork in periodicals such as ''El País'' and ''El Món'', and such art and cultural magazines as ''Ampit'', ''

arc-voltaic ''Arc Voltaic'' (in English: Electric Arc) was a Catalonia, Catalan poetry magazine published in the city of Barcelona. Only one number of this magazine was published in February 1918. It was directed by Joan Salvat-Papasseit. The cover contains ...

'', ''Ariel'', ''Artilugi'', ''Cairell'', ''Kalías'', ''Le Hangar Éphémère'', ''Negre+Siena'', ''Oc'', ''Papers impresos'', ''Reduccions'' and ''Serra d'Or''.

Poetry

* ''Com una capsa'', 1972 – limited edition object book * ''Notes nocturnes / Albert Ràfols Casamada'', Edicions 62, Barcelona, 1976 (visual poetry, in Catalan and English, 48 p., illustrations in b/w) * ''Signe d'aire. Obra poètica 1968–1978'', Llibres del Mall, Curial, Barcelona, 1976. * ''Territori de temps''. Barcelona: Quaderns Crema, 1979. * ''El jardín'', Edicions Ponce, Barcelona/Mexico City, 1979. * ''Paranys i raons per atrapar instants''. Sabadell: Edicions dels dies, 1981. * ''Episodi''. Cuenca: Antojos, 1982 (poems and etchings). * ''Angle de llum''. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1984. * ''Hoste del dia''.

: Columna, 1994 * ''Estrats''. Barcelona: Edicions Polígrafa, 1985 (bibliophile edition, 125 copies) * ''Espais de veu''. Maó, Menorca: Druïda, 1987. * ''El color de les pedres''. Barcelona: Columna, 1989. * ''El Passeig del poeta: poemes i dibuixos / The Poet's Walk: Poems and Drawings'', translation into English by

D. Sam Abrams D. Sam Abrams (born 1952) is a poet, translator and critic. He is considered an authority on the Catalan language. He holds a degree in Hispanic Studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Bibliography Poetry *''Calculations...'' (199 ...

. Barcelona: Edicions Polígrafa, 1991.
''Policromia o La galería dels miralls / Albert Ràfols-Casamada''
Edicions Polígrafa, Barcelona, 1999 (collection of etchings with poetry, bibliophile edition: 440 copies) * ''Espiral del temps''. Barcelona: Círculo de Lectores, 2003. * ''Dimensions del present (2001–2004)''. Vic: Eumo – Cafè Central, 2004.

Anthologies and translations of his poetry

* ''Four Timescapes (Longer Poems)'', selected and translation by

, illustrations by the author, Vol. 10 of the Beacon Literature Series. Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Nord-Americans, 1993 (bilingual edition, Catalan – English). * ''Signe d'aire: obra poètica, 1939–1999''. Barcelona: Proa, 2000 (collected poetry to 1999, in Catalan, original version). * ''El color de las piedras. Antología poética 1976–2002'', translated by Victoria Pradilla and Alfonso Alegre Heitzmann, Ediciones de la Rosa Cúbica, Barcelona, 2003 (anthology of Ràfols-Casamada's poetry, bilingual version with Spanish translation).

Prose, essays, and art theory

* ''Sobre pintura''.

Santander Santander may refer to: Places * Santander, Spain, a port city and capital of the autonomous community of Cantabria, Spain * Santander Department, a department of Colombia * Santander State, former state of Colombia * Santander de Quilichao, a m ...

: La isla de los ratones, 1985 – art theory, in Spanish, based on the authors essays on art in Catalan in the magazine "Papers impresos", published by EINA school of art. * ''Correspondències i contrastos. Les arts i els artistes''.

: Universitat de Barcelona, Servei d'Informació i Publicacions, 1994 – art theory

Diaries

* ''L'escorça dels dies: Fulls de dietari (1975–1977)''. Barcelona: Els Llibres de Glauco, 1984. * ''D'un mateix traç: Fulls de dietari (1978–1982)''. Barcelona: Edicions 62, 1994. * ''Huésped del día. Dietario (1975–1984)'', translation into Spanish by Núria Casellas. Barcelona: Ediciones de la Rosa Cúbica, 1998.

Illustrations in books

Apart from some of his own poetry books, Ràfols-Casamada illustrated the following books, among others: *

Joan Perucho Joan Perucho Gutiérrez (Barcelona, 7 November 1920 – Barcelona, 28 October 2003) was a Spanish novelist, poet and art critic, an activity that alternated with his profession as a judge. His work, written in Catalan and Spanish mix with other t ...

– ''Aurora per vosaltres'', 1959 (poetry), illustrations together with Maria Girona. *

Lao-Tze Laozi (), also known by numerous other names, was a semilegendary ancient Chinese Taoist philosopher. Laozi ( zh, ) is a Chinese honorific, generally translated as "the Old Master". Traditional accounts say he was born as in the state o ...

– ''Tao-Te-King'', verses selected and translated into Catalan by Josep Palau i Fabre, 1965. * Josep M. Llompart – ''Poemes / Aquarel·les'', in ''Druïda 2/6'', Maó: Druïda, 1984 (poetry, limited edition). * J.V. Foix – ''Set sonets'', Barcelona: Papers d’Art / Albert Ferrer Editor, 1984 (poetry). *

Mercè Rodoreda Mercè Rodoreda i Gurguí (; 10 October 1908 – 13 April 1983) was a Catalan novelist. She is considered the most influential contemporary Catalan language writer, as evidenced by the references of other authors in her work and the internation ...

– ''La plaça del Diamant'', Cercle de Lectors, Barcelona, 1989, Diputació de Barcelona, 2008 (novel). *

– ''Mirall trencat'', Cercle de Lectors, Barcelona, 1990 (novel). * Jordi Sarsanedas – ''Mites''. Barcelona: Columna Editorial & Club de Lectors dels Països Catalans, 1995 (poetic stories or poetry in prose, first published in 1954 by Selecta, Barcelona, then in 1976 by Edicions 62 with the illustrations), illustrations together with Maria Girona. *

– ''El carrer de les Camèlies'', Cercle de Lectors, Barcelona, 2002 (novel) *

– ''Tots els contes'', Vols. 1 & 2, Cercle de Lectors, Barcelona, 2000 (short stories)

Awards and honors

* 1978 – Medal from the Catalan Art & Design Association (medalla del Foment de les Arts i el Disseny – FAD) for his artistic, cultural and teaching activities * 1980 – Spanish National Award for Plastic Arts (Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas) * 1983 – Catalan Cross of Saint George (Creu de Sant Jordi) * 1985 – French title of Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) * 1991 – French title of Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters (Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres) * 2003 – Catalan National Award for the Visual Arts (Premi Nacional de les Arts Visuals de Catalunya) * 2008 – Gold Medal for Artistic Merit, Barcelona City Council (Medalla d'Or al Mèrit artístic, Ajuntament de Barcelona) * 2009 – Tribute at the National Museum of Catalan Art ( MNAC)"Homenatge a Rafols-Casamada al MNAC"
article on ''Artneutre?''

References

External links

Albert Ràfols-Casamada
at the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (Association of Catalan Language Writers) – in Catalan, Spanish and English.
Biography of Albert Ràfols-Casamada
at the MACBA website
Video with interview with Albert Ràfols-Casamada
on Edu3.cat, 2005 (26 min., in Catalan)
Catalogue: ''Albert Ràfols-Casamada: Painting, 1950–2005''
Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, and State Corporation for Spanish Cultural Action Abroad, 2006 – in English (Entire catalogue available on-line (pdf format), with reproductions of Ràfols-Casamada's works and sundry texts, including a biography / timeline, bibliography and other information).

on mag-poesia web (in Catalan).
Fund of Albert Ràfols Casamada at the Library of Catalonia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafols-Casamada, Albert 1923 births 2009 deaths Writers from Barcelona Poets from Catalonia 20th-century Catalan painters 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century Spanish male writers