Josep Maria Sert i Badia (; Barcelona, 21 December 1874 – 27 November 1945, buried in the

Vic Cathedral , image = Catedral de Sant Pere de Vic - 008.jpg , caption = Vic Cathedral, overview from the river, with the neoclassical apse and the Romanesque bell tower; to the left, the Romanesque bridge. , imagealt = ...

) was a Spanish muralist, the son of an affluent textile industry family, and friend of

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarr ...

. He was particularly known for his grisaille style, often in gold and black.

Career

Sert initially studied art in Rome before moving to

Paris Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1899. There, he became involved with a group of decorative artists known as

Les Nabis Les Nabis (French: les nabis, ) were a group of young French artists active in Paris from 1888 until 1900, who played a large part in the transition from impressionism and academic art to abstract art, symbolism and the other early movements of m ...

, gravitating around

Paul Ranson Paul-Élie Ranson (29 March 1861 – 20 February 1909) was a French painter and writer associated with Les Nabis. Biography He was born in Limoges. His mother died in childbirth, so he was raised and educated by his grandparents and his f ...

, who had studied at the private

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

, founded in 1868 by painter Rodolphe Julian. Sert was commissioned in 1900 to paint the interior of the

in the

Province of Barcelona Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is .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 north ...

in murals, which took him more than 30 years to complete. By 1910, Sert had begun fully focusing on murals and other large-scale work. He collaborated with Russian Sergei Diaghilev to create sets for his Ballets Russes. In 1929 he was commissioned with the elaboration of a series of large forma canvases painted in his signature grisaille style intending to cover the walls of the reconverted San Telmo church in Donostia-San Sebastián; they portray different historic chapters of the Basques in an epic manner. In the United States, Sert painted a mural at the Waldorf-Astoria in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, as well as a 1937 mural entitled ''American Progress'' at

30 Rockefeller Center 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Completed in 1933, the 66-s ...

. ''American Progress'' was commissioned by the Rockefellers to replace Diego Rivera’s mural '' Man at the Crossroads'', which

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

destroyed because it included an image of

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

. He later painted the walls and ceilings of the Council Chambers at the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Personal life

Sert began an affair with the well-known pianist and patron of the arts

Misia Godebska Misia Sert (born Maria Zofia Olga Zenajda Godebska; 30 March 1872 – 15 October 1950) was a pianist of Polish descent who hosted an artistic salon in Paris. She was a patron and friend of numerous artists, for whom she regularly posed. Early lif ...

in 1908. They married on 2 September 1920. In 1925, Sert met

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

-Russian sculptress Isabelle Roussadana Mdivani, known as Roussy, who subsequently moved in with him and Misia. Sert began an affair with Roussy and later divorced Misia on 28 December 1927 to marry Mdivani. Roussy and Sert were married in 1928 in a civil ceremony at the consulate in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. In 1930, they were married in a religious ceremony at the Spanish church in Paris. After Roussy died in 1938, Sert reconciled with Misia and returned to life with her, though they kept separate apartments Sert died on 27 November 1945 in Barcelona, and left his apartment and furnishings to Misia.

Gallery

File:Josep Maria Sert - Apollo flying through the Clouds - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Apollo flying through the Clouds'' (1913) File:Josep Maria Sert - Satyr watching some Nymphs dancing - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Satyr watching some Nymphs dancing'' (1913) File:Josep Maria Sert - The Elephant Fountain - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Elephant Fountain'' (1913) File:Josep Maria Sert - The Fountains Bridge - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Fountains Bridge'' (1913) File:Josep Maria Sert - The Triumph of Apollo - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Triumph of Apollo'' (1913)

References

External links

* See the murals at th
Rockefeller Center
in

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sert, Josep Maria 1874 births 1945 deaths 20th-century Spanish painters 20th-century Spanish male artists Spanish male painters Académie Julian alumni Muralists People from Barcelona Spanish artists