ENRIC CLARASÓ I DAUDÍ (Sant Feliu del Racó, 1857... Lot 79

ENRIC CLARASÓ I DAUDÍ (Sant Feliu del Racó, 1857 - Barcelona, 1941). "Flors". White marble. Signed on the base. Size: 59 x 31 x 50 cm. 100 kg. In this group portrait, three brothers have been captured with vivid expressions while a timeless halo emanates from the group. Clarasó was rightly a great master at combining timeless classicism and the naturalism of the instant in the same image. In this sculpture, the older brother rests his hands on the shapely shoulders of the other two, closing the group with that tender, welcoming gesture. The youngest embraces a bouquet of flowers as if fearing that her other brother will snatch them away. Thus, the image conveys an idea of immediacy and spontaneity that is very successful thanks to the technical mastery and artistic sensitivity, and at the same time this everyday picture is covered with a timeless patina. The quality of the finishes, the apparent ductility of the most delicate details (see the roses) and the naturalism of the attitudes are typical of a great carver. Clarasó trained at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona, where he was a disciple of Joan Roig. In the early 1980s he met Santiago Rusiñol and Ramón Casas, with whom he exhibited repeatedly at the Sala Parés. In the middle of this decade his studio became a meeting point for artists, as well as the primitive nucleus of El Cau Ferrat. At this time Clarasó devoted himself to making clay statuettes, portraits and funerary images. He worked on the decoration of the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1888 and, with the profits from this work, he moved to Paris with Rusiñol. He made a second trip two years later and joined the group formed by Casas, Rusiñol, Utrillo and Ramón Canudes. His work began in anecdotal naturalism, with works such as his "Forjador", and later evolved, after his stays in Paris, towards modernism. In 1892 he took part in the National Exhibition in Madrid, as well as in the Universal Exhibitions of Barcelona (1888), Chicago (1893) and Paris (1900), winning the gold medal in the latter for his funerary work "Memento Homo". His production includes the monument to King James I the Conqueror in Palma de Mallorca. Works by Clarasó are kept in the MACBA, the National Art Museum of Catalonia and the Cau Ferrat Museum in Sitges.