Josep Llimona i Bruguera (; 8 April 1864, 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 ...

– 27 February 1934) was a Spanish sculptor. His first works were academic, but after a stay in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, influenced by Auguste Rodin, his style drew closer to ''

modernisme ''Modernisme'' (, Catalan for "modernism"), also known as Catalan modernism and Catalan art nouveau, is the historiographic denomination given to an art and literature movement associated with the search of a new entitlement of Catalan cultu ...

''. He was very prolific, and exhibited in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...

, Paris,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and

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. Some of his monumental work is familiar to Barcelona residents and visitors alke.

Artistic education and career

He studied at the Llotja School in Barcelona and in the studio of the brothers Agapit and Venaci Vallmitjana. He was also a disciple of

Rossend Nobas Rossend Nobas i Ballbé was a Catalan people, Catalan sculptor and goldsmith in the 19th century. Working mainly in Barcelona, Nobas's work is to be found around the city in both museums and public areas. Biography Nobas was born in 1849. H ...

, with whom he worked for two years, and the painter Martí i Alsina, in the school of fine arts in Barcelona. When he was 16 years old he obtained a Fortuny grant, awarded by the

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

, and moved to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where as well as producing the works that were mandatory under the terms of his grant, he made an initial model for an equestrian statue of the count of Barcelona Ramon Berenguer the Great. This work earned Llimona the renewal of his grant for a further month, enabling him to remodel the statue at its definitive scale. The work was shown at the

Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888) The 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition (in Catalan: ''Exposició Universal de Barcelona'' and ''Exposición Universal de Barcelona'' in Spanish) was Spain's first International World's Fair and ran from 8 April to 9 December 1888. It was also the ...

, where it won a gold medal, the highest award given by the international jury for sculpture. The original became the property of the City Council, in return for the modest amount of the grant (3,600 pesetas) and it can now be seen in the Barcelona square named after the count. Almost at the same time Llimona won a competition for a statue of Ramon Berenguer the Elder, which, cast in bronze, is amongst the monuments which stand in the Saló de Sant Joan in Barcelona, and in spite of sending in his work late, he won a resounding moral victory in the competition held in

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague. Nowadays it is kno ...

(

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

) for an equestrian statue of general Joan Prim i Prats. Josep Llimona also sculpted a large number of works in other genres, including ''Desconsol'', shown in the international fine arts exhibition held in Barcelona in 1907 and acquired for the city's municipal museum; ''Idil·li'', in a private collection in Argentina; the funerary monument of Señora de Chopitea (

); the group ''Amor a la infància'', in the Bosc Schools on

Montjuïc Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Etymology Montjuïc translates to "Jewish Mountain" from medieval Latin and Catalan, and remains of a medieval Jewish cemetery have been found there. Some sources suggest that Montjuïc ...

, and the great monument to Doctor Robert, originally placed in the Plaça de la Universitat in Barcelona and now in the Plaça Tetuan. He also worked in the applied arts. Notable examples in this area are the

crosier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Cathol ...

for the bishop of

Vic Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

, a coffee service that was to be offered as a gift for a royal wedding, and various pieces of jewellery whose artistic value exceeds the intrinsic value, although the latter is still considerable. Also, as a draughtsman, Llimona produced a large number of excellent life studies. He was one of the founders, along with his brother Joan Llimona i Bruguera, of the

Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc The Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc (, meaning in English "Saint Lluc Artists' Circle") is an arts society which was founded in Barcelona (Catalonia) in 1893 by Joan Llimona, Josep Llimona, Antoni Utrillo, Alexandre de Riquer, the city councillo ...

in 1892.

Notable works

*1888

Frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

for the

Arc de Triomf The Arc de Triomf () is a triumphal arch in the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. It was built by architect Josep Vilaseca i Casanovas as the main access gate for the 1888 Barcelona World Fair. The arch crosses over the wide central promenad ...

in Barcelona. *1888 Equestrian statue of Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (cast in bronze in 1950) *1888 Eight reliefs for the monument to Christopher Columbus, Barcelona. *1890 Sacred Heart. Parish church of

Terrassa Terrassa (, es, Tarrasa) is a city in the east central region of Catalonia, Spain, in the province of Barcelona, '' comarca'' of Vallès Occidental, of which it is the co-capital along with Sabadell. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ...

. *1891 Modèstia.

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (, English: "National Art Museum of Catalonia"), abbreviated as MNAC, is a museum of Catalan visual art located in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Situated on Montjuïc hill at the end of Avinguda de la Reina M ...

. *1892 Virgin of the Rosary. Museum of the

Abbey of Montserrat Santa Maria de Montserrat () is an abbey of the Order of Saint Benedict located on the mountain of Montserrat in Monistrol de Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain. It is notable for enshrining the image of the Virgin of Montserrat. The monastery was f ...

. *1893 Piélago family grave. Cemetery of

Comillas Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquessate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle ...

Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...

. *1895 L'Àngel exterminador. Cemetery of

. *1897 Saint Nicholas and the fishermen. Church of San Nicolás,

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

. *1903-1910 Monument to Dr. Robert in Barcelona. *1907 Desconsol.

. *1914 ''El forjardor'' (The Blacksmith). Several versions existing. *1914 Christ Resurrected. In collaboration with Antoni Gaudí for the Abbey of Montserrat. *1916 Saint George standing. Grand stairs of the Barcelona City Hall. *1916 Monument to

José María Usandizaga José María Usandizaga (31 March 1887–5 October 1915) was a Spanish Basque composer. A native of San Sebastián, Usandizaga began his musical studies in his hometown before moving to the Schola Cantorum in Paris. There, he was a compo ...

. San Sebastián. *1920 ''L'enterrament de Crist''

Barcelona Cathedral The Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia ( ca, Catedral de la Santa Creu i Santa Eulàlia), also known as Barcelona Cathedral, is the Gothic cathedral and seat of the Archbishop of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The cathedral was constru ...

*1924 Saint George on horseback. Park of Montjuïc, Barcelona. *1925 Female nude. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. *1929 Sculptural group of the Monument to the heroes of 1808. *1929 Judas’ kiss.

Tarragona Cathedral The Cathedral of Tarragona is a Roman Catholic church in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The edifice is located in a site previously occupied by a Roman temple dating to the time of Tiberius, a Visigothic cathedral, and a Moorish mosque. It was decl ...

. *1929 La Font. Public gardens in Buenos Aires. *1930 The bath. Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. File:Berenguer el Gran P1210429.jpg, Ramon Berenguer III “the Great” in Barcelona Barcelona Cathedral Interior - L'enterrament de Crist - Josep Llimona i Bruguera 1920.jpg, ''L'enterrament de Crist''

File:Spain.Barcelona.Plaza.Catalunya.2008.El.Forjador.JPG, ''El forjador'' (The Blacksmith): the Plaça Catalunya stone version, Barcelona File:Spain.Catalonia.Barcelona.Arc.Trionf.Escultura.1.Josep.Llimona.JPG, Frieze on the Arc de Triomf in Barcelona File:Angel de Llimona 002.JPG, ''L'Àngel exterminador'' in the cemetery at

External links

Monument a José María UsandizagaVerge del Rosari a Montserrat

Sources

Adapted from the Catalan Wikipedia * ''La Gran Enciclopèdia en català'' Volum XII, Barcelona: Edicions 62, 2004. * Josefina Alix Trueba ''Escultura Española 1900/1936'' Madrid, Ediciones El Viso, 1985. * Apèndix VI pag. 1350-Tom nº, 31 pags. 1044-45 de ''l'enciclopèdia Espasa'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Llimona Sculptors from Catalonia 1934 deaths 1864 births Modernisme 20th-century sculptors 19th-century sculptors

Artistic education and career

Notable works

See also

External links

Sources