CARLES NADAL FARRERAS (Paris, 1917 - Sitges, Barcelona,... Lot 50

CARLES NADAL FARRERAS (Paris, 1917 - Sitges, Barcelona, 1998). "Still life". Oil on paper glued to canvas. Stamp on the back of the Atelier Carles Nadal. Signed in the lower right corner. Signed and titled on the back. Measurements: 22 x 28 cm; 43,5 x 58 cm (frame). In this work, Nadal, offers us an interior scene constituted by an aesthetic of synthetic character in its forms and, at the same time, of great expressive intensity, constructed through broad brushstrokes that present an energetic invoice in the stroke and thanks to the use of schematic plastic elements the artist manages to create a tactile effect and a visual purity free of any artifice or anecdotal detail. Nadal's painting has always been linked to the artistic production of the Fauvists, especially Dufy. His works, as in this particular case, offer a version of the world from a naïve perspective, in which the joy of living is optimised. A pictorial space conceived and dedicated to the senses and tactile values. The son of Santiago Nadal, a painter and decorator based in Paris, Carles Nadal has lived in Barcelona since childhood, where the family moved due to his father's illness. At the age of thirteen he began to work as an apprentice in a decorative painting workshop, and in 1936 he received a grant from Barcelona City Council to study at the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts. At the outbreak of the Civil War he is recruited into the Republican army, with which he fights on the Aragon and Tremp fronts. At the beginning of 1939 he crossed the French border and was interned in the Saint Cyprien refugee camp, where he remained for several months. He managed to escape and cross the border again, but was arrested and imprisoned in Figueras. On parole he returned to Barcelona, where he continued his artistic career while simultaneously working as a decorator and studying Fine Arts. In 1941 he made his debut in a group exhibition at the Dalmau gallery, receiving good reviews. He finished his studies with good marks, obtaining the recognition of teachers and professors, some of whom became friends and collaborators of the young Nadal. In fact, it was one of them, Luis Muntané, who enabled him to hold his first individual exhibition in 1944, at La Pinacoteca in Barcelona. Two years later he moved to Paris, again with a grant from the Barcelona City Council. There he worked and exhibited with the group Présence de l'Homme, as well as taking part in the Salons d'Automne. Later he attended the Paris School of Fine Arts, thanks to a grant from the French State. In 1948 he married Flore Joris and settled in Brussels, where he remained until the mid-1970s. In Belgium he discovered, as he himself repeatedly stated, light and colour. During these years he continued to show his work both in Spain and Belgium and in France, Germany, Holland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Nadal's painting is post-impressionist in character, intensely colourful, and is based on the search for chromatic force as the most direct means of communication. His awards include the Grand Prix de Spa, Belgium, and his appointment as a member of the Royal Academy of London. His works can be found at MACBA, the Spa Museum in Belgium and the Royal Museum in Brussels.