Catalonia - Art and Culture 2018

Painting and sculpture Fromwall to canvas What existed before and after Modernisme? Artistic creation has had a significant impact since prehistoric times and continues to produce marvels to share with the whole world.

Rock, Romanesque and Gothic art

Bare-breasted female figures dance in pairs around a man. He is smaller than them, but his sex shows exaggerated dimensions. This fertility ritual, was painted 6,500-5,000 BCE at Roca dels Moros, in El Cogul (Terres de Lleida). These slender figures are painted in ochre and black, characteristic of the rock art of the Mediterra- nean Basin . In Catalonia, there are more exam- ples in the Cova dels Vilars (Terres de Lleida) and in the Abrics de l’Ermita (Terres de l’Ebre). They are part of the Route of Rock Art and in 1998 were declared UNESCO World Heritage. the arrival of the Romanesque Thousands of years later, these ritual scenes gave way to an elaborate concept of divinity. The context? The birth of the Catalan nation from the 9th and 10th centuries, the repopulation of the lands and the appearance of new temples, churches and monasteries in Romanesque style. In around 1123, an anonymous artist made the last touches to the majestic image of Christ painted in the apse of the church of Sant Cli- ment, in the Vall de Boí (Pirineus). Its majesty can be seen today, along with many other ex- amples, in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya (MNAC, www.museunacional.cat ). What do fertility rites have to do with images of saints? They are orks of art inspired in religious beliefs.

© Infotur

The same museum also displays work in the Catalan Gothic style, as well as pieces signed by master painters like Jaume Huguet or sculptors like Pere Sanglada. The art from this period re- flects the expansion of Catalonia with the con- quest of Valencia and Majorca. It was a time in which great temples were built, such as the Bar- celona, Girona, Tarragona, Solsona, and Tortosa cathedrals, which were decorated with paintings and sculptures that can be admired in the Poblet Monastery (Costa Daurada), Pedralbes Monas- tery, or the Saló del Tinell (Barcelona).

PANTHOCRATOR, a 12th century fresco in sant climent detaüll. Below, paintings

F

ire lit the first depiction of animals, drawn on a rock by a member of the clan. Without realising it, he had just become one of the first artists

ceramic remains in the ancient Greek and Roman colony of Empúries (Costa Brava). In our sights While Catalan painting and sculpture has some of its own characteristics, it has his- torically followed European trends. This Catalan style is a blend of contributions from different peoples who, like the Arabs, left their mark on Catalan culture. The Middle Ages brought moments of splendour to a Catalonia that was creating its own identity, which was especially evident in the Roman- esque and Gothic periods. In the 19th cen- tury, the economic rebirth produced a very fertile moment of creation: Modernisme , an enhanced version of the artistic tendency that spread throughout Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. The history of Catalan art includes from Dalí and Miró to Jaume Plensa. All have placed Catalonia in the sights of art lovers the world around.

on the roca dels moros, El cogul.

of these lands. This may have taken place in Abrics de l’Ermita (Terres de l’Ebre) or in an- other of the many caves and shelters in Catalonia. It is a good starting point for a journey through the history of art. The next stop on this journey might be the painted

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prehistoric sites HAVE BEEN RECOGNISED by Unesco

JAQUELINE WITH CROSSED HANDS , BY PABLO PICASSO.

© Lluís carro

© SErvicios editoriales georama

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