LA PEDRERA: GARGALLO'S EXHIBITION

A Sunday morning I went to “La Pedrera” to see “Gargallo’s Exhibition”. I liked the exhibition very much.

Pablo Gargallo was born in Maella (Zaragoza) in 1881, but in 1888 his family moved to Barcelona, where he trained as a sculptor at the La Llotja school of Fine Arts. Some time around 1900, he began to frequent the circles of artists and intellectuals that gathered at Els Quatre Gats café. It was here that he met Picasso, Nonell, among others.


In 1903, a grant enabled him to travel to Paris, where he studied the work of Rodin. He soon returned to Barcelona where, in 1906, he had his first solo show at the Sala Parés. He was also working at the same time as an assistant to a number of sculptors and collaborated with the architect Lluís Domènench i Montaner on the sculpted decoration of the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau and the Palau de la Música Catalana concert hall.


Gargallo is one of the most important sculptors in the avant-garde movements of the 20th Century. His works followed the postulates of Noucentisme . In their works He used metals that sculptors didn’t use like iron, copper, sheet…


He experimented with denser materials and he integrated the void as a sculptural element.
I would like to point out to the wonderful works called “THE PROPHET” and “THE DANCERS”.
“The dancers” are a beautiful work that Gargallo built with models, using cardboard cut-out templates.
Then, he finished these sculptures building them like a jigsaw. It’s impressive!
If you want to know Gargallo, there are some guided routes organised by the Fundació Caixa de Catalunya around Gargallo’s public Art works route.

People will learn and will visit a lot of sculptures which are in the most important buildings of Barcelona city as Palau de la Música, Plaça Catalunya, Hospital de Sant Pau and others…