GAUDÍ AND ART NOUVEAU IN CATALONIA / Sculpture / Llimona

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JOSEP LLIMONA I BRUGUERA   (1864-1934)

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• On Josep Llimona:  Biography   Works: In Catalonia  Funerary Sculpture  Out of Catalonia   Images
Sources and additional information:  Links   Bibliography: Books  Chronicles   Other Catalan Art Nouveau Sculptors 

Works:

In Catalonia:
In Barcelona:
The prodigal son (1880) 
Roman patrician
(1880) 
Ramon Berenguer el Gran
(Ramon Berenguer Square 1880) Recompense (Frieze on Triumph Arch 1888) 
Relief's on Columbus Monument
(Five relief's of the eight existing ones)
   Columbus appearing to Kings
   Columbus in the Council of Salamanca
  
The kings accepting his project
 
Disembarkation of Columbus in Barcelona (1888) 
Florentine Page (1890) 
Modesty
  (Museum of Modern Art 1891) 
Virgin of Roser
(1892) 
The first communion
(Museum of Modern Art 1897) 
The man guiding the force
 (1899)
Desconsol  (Distress - Ciutadella Park 1907) 
The Idyll 
Saint Josef
(Tympanum of the Condal School, Amadeu Vives street 1907) 
Monument to Dr. Robert
 (Tetuàn square 1903-1910) 
Virgin
(Chapel Jesus and Maria - Fabra i Puig Promenade 1910) 
Verge de la Mercé
(Virgin of Favor -   Reproduction of a relief in the Church of Pompeia - Diagonal Avenue / Riera S.   Miquel 1910) 
Divine shepherd
(Reproduction of a relief in the Church of Pompeia - Diagonal Avenue / Riera S.  Miquel 1910) 
The ascent of Maria
(Reproduction of a relief in the Church of Pompeia -    Diagonal Avenue / Riera S.  Miquel 1910) 
Saint Francis
(High-relief on Pompeia Church Façade - Avda. Diagonal / Riera S. Miquel 1910) 
Catalonia and sciences
(1912)
The descent from the cross
(Destroyed during civil war 1936/39 - 1912) 
Figure of Woman (1912) 
Figure of Woman (1913) 
Statue of Casañas  Cardinal
  (Chapel of Saint Josef Oriol into the Cathedral 1913) 
Virgin with boy and other figures
  (Bas-relief 1913) 
Youth or Water nymph (Museum of   Modern Art 1913) 
The Blacksmith (Catalunya Square, replica in the Trade Exhibition Area 1930) 
Love to the childhood
(Park of Montjuïc - Escola del Bosc 1914) 
La Purísima Concepció (The Virgin -   Church of the Sagrada Família - Holy Family - 1915) Holy Heart (Church of the Sagrada Família - Holy Family -1915) 
Virgin (School of the Holy Heart in Sarrià 1915) 
Base of the monument to Rafael   de Casanova
(Ronda Sant Pere 1916) 
Saint George
(Honor staircase of City hall 1916) 
Insomnia (Private Collection 1917) 
Picture of Carles G. Vidiella (Palau Hall of Music 1917) 
Small statue (Museum of Modern Art 1917) 
The burial of Christ (Cloister Chapel of Cathedral 1920)
Sant Jordi (1920) 
The source (Private Collection 1921) 
Sant Jordi (Saint George - Esplanada de l'oest Park of Montjuïc 1924) 
Maternity (Private Collection 1924) 
Kneel down Woman (1924) 
Standing up Figure
(1924) 
Seated Figure (1924) 
Shepherd (1924) 
Adolescent (Private Collection 1924) 
The beauty (Dante Square - Montjuïc 1924) 
Youth (Private Collection 1924) 
Nude of seated woman
(1924)
Nude of seated woman (1925)
Holy Heart (1925)
Holy Heart (Relief 1925) 
Monument to the Martyrs of
  Independence
(In collaboration with V. Navarro i Romero - Garriga i Bachs    square) 
Meditation (1925) 
Head of boy (Private Collection 1927) 
Portrait of Doctor Ferràn (Private Collection 1929) 
Statue B (Pedralbes Palace 1929) 
Woman (Park of Montjuïc - Stairs to National Palace 1929) 
Woman
(Park of Montjuïc - Cascades square 1929) 
Saint George (City hall 1929) 
The Bath (Modern Art Museum 1930) 
Maternity (1930) 
The son (Private 1930) 
The flowers (Stairs of the Park of Montjuïc 1930) 
Cordèlia (Private Collection 1930) 
Lassitude (1930) 
Saint Martin (1930) 
The Student

In Montserrat:
Consumatum est
  (1896) 
Figure of woman (Monumental Rosary - Mystery of glory 1903)
Tomb Figure (monumental Rosary - Mystery of glory 1903) 
Christ raised again
(in collaboration with Gaudí - monumental Rosary 1914)

In Sabadell:
The Virtue
(Caixa d'estalvis de Sabadell    Savings Bank 1910) 

In Sant Julià de Vilatorta: 
Jesus and the children
(Relief in the    tympanum of the Chapel of the School of orphans 1904) 

In Tarragona: 
The kiss of Judas
(Cathedral 1929) 

In Terrassa: 
Portrait of an industrialist
(Museum    Vallparadís 1892) 
Monument to Bartomeu Amat
 (Gardens of Industrial School 1909) 

In Vic:
Seated woman  (Monument to the   founder of the Monastery of Carmelites 1914)

In Vilafranca del Penedès:
Saint Sepulchre
(Saint Mary Basilica Crypt 1916)

Funerary sculpture: 

Pantheons in Barcelona
Angel
(Torres Pantheon - Southwest Cemetery 1900)
Angel (Alomar-Estrany Pantheon - Southwest Cemetery 1900)
Resignation (Rialp Pantheon 1901)
Desconsol (Distress - A dressed variant - M. Casas de Vilanova Pantheon -   Southwest Cemetery 1903)
Grief and resignation (Southwest Cemetery 1903)
Angel (Campesol y Rosell Pantheon - Southwest Cemetery)
Woman (Horta Cemetery 1904)
Angel (Llopart Pantheon - Southwest Cemetery 1905)
Sant Jordi (M. Granell Pantheon Southwest Cemetery 1928)

Pantheons in Arenys de Mar (Maresme)  
Mundet Pantheon
(1901)
Massaguer Pantheon

Pantheon in Masnou (Maresme)
The faith  comforting the grief
(Pere Grau Pantheon 1901)

Pantheon in Roses (Alt Empordà)
A Pray 
(1903)

Pantheons in Sitges 
Dr. Robert Pantheon
(1903)
Woman (Cros i Juliana Pantheon 1912)

Out of Catalonia:  
Saint Nicholas and the fisherman  
(Tympanum of S. Nicholas Church - Bilbao 1897)

Pantheon in Portugalete (Vizcaya):
Crucified Christ
(Manuel Calvo Pantheon 1911)

Chopitea Pantheon (Buenos Aires Cemetery 1927)

The fountain (Public gardens in Buenos Aires 1929)

The Angel (Comillas Cemetery Cantabria - Spain -)

 Josep Llimona i Bruguera - Sculptor - Portrait

Life:
Llimona is the greatest Art Nouveau (Modernista) Catalonian sculptor. 
Born in Barcelona in the year 1864. 
He was trained in the Llotja of Barcelona, in the atelier of Venanci and Agapit Vallmitjana brothers and also under the mastering of Rosend Nobas. 
In 1880 he won the "Fortuny pension" (an award granted by the Barcelona City Council in memory of the great Catalonian painter Marià Fortuny, to help artists to improve his capabilities) and went to Rome. During his stay in Italy, he received the influence of the Florentine Renaissance sculpture and carried out two obligatory works: Roman Patrician and Ramon Berenguer el Gran
His style is characterized by a naturalistic idealism and by the flavor of the picturesqueness.  
Infiesta distinguishes in the work of Llimona five periods:

 Period Denomination Characteristics
1864 - 1895    Learning  Works still in academic style
1895 - 1909    Art Nouveau  Female figures, pantheons, dressed maidens
1909 - 1913    Transition  Religious statues, virgins, Christ's
1913 - 1925    Full maturity  Heroes (Saint George, The Blacksmith), nude maidens
1925 - 1934    Serenity  Classic female nudes

The first works still in academic style, show us a typical and historic series of personages of the country as the already cited equestrian statue of "Ramon Berenguer el Gran" (a count of Barcelona - 1890), a frieze on the Triumph Arch of Barcelona named "Recompense" and the "Modesty" (1891). 
He founded jointly with his brother the painter Josep Llimona, the "Centre Artístic de Sant Lluc" (Artistic Center of Saint Luke), a Catalonian artistic religious association - both they were deeply believer - at present a prestigious institution in artistic circles in Barcelona.
But late, their style derived towards a fully Art Nouveau ( modernista) models with influences of Rodin and Meunier.
"The first communion" (1897), the famous "Desconsol" (Distress - 1907) - Prize of Honor of the International Exposition of Fine Arts celebrated the same year in Barcelona - located at present in front of the Parliament of Catalonia and "The Idyll", belongs to this period. 
From 1900 he begins to sculpt its famous female nudes of a great elegance,  veiled eroticism and smooth melancholy that he will develop as one of the most noticeable elements of his work.
In 1914 he creates its impressive "Christ resurrected" for the monumental Rosary of Montserrat in contribution with Gaudí.
Llimona combines the tenderness and the virile force in works as "The student" - one of the master works of the Catalonian sculpture -, in the "Monument to Doctor Robert" ( Tetuàn square of Barcelona) and also in the equestrian statue of Sant Jordi (Saint George) in the Park of Montjuïc of Barcelona. 
The genius of Llimona was declared also in other fields as the funerary sculpture with works as the pantheons of the Southwest cemetery of Barcelona and the cemeteries of Arenys de Mar, Sitges and in other places, so much in Catalonia as outside.
Josep Llimona also emphasized in his activities as designer of medals.
 
Besides in Barcelona and other towns of Catalonia, Llimona carried out exhibitions in Madrid, Brussels, Paris and Buenos Aires and Rosario in Argentina. 
Llimona was the President of the "Junta de Museus de Barcelona" (Barcelona Museums Council) from 1918 to 1924 and again since 1931 to his death in 1934. 

Llimona was decorated by the governments of France and Italy, and was the first person in receiving the Gold Medal of the city of Barcelona in 1932, due to his extraordinary work in the development of museums activity. 
Josep Llimona i Bruguera, died in Barcelona in the year 1934. 
 

Images:

Llimona  Monument to Dr. Robert  Barcelona Llimona: Monument to Dr Robert Front group
Front group
Llimona: Monument to Dr Robert Back group
Back group

Monument to Doctor Robert (Major of Barcelona at the end of XIX Century) This monument was erected by the city in the "University square", dismounted during Franco dictatorship and newly erected in "Tetuàn square" in the year 1988.

 

Llimona Ramon Berenguer el Gran
Ramon Berenguer el Gran
Count of Barcelona

 

Llimona  The Recompense  Triumph arch in Barcelona
Recompense


 

Llimona: Sant Jordi
Saint George
Llimona  Desconsol (Distress)
Desconsol  (Distress)

Funerary sculpture

Llimona: Massaguer Pantheon  Cemetery of Arenys de Mar Llimona: Mundet Pantheon  Cemetery of Arenys de Mar Llimona: R. Camps Pantheon  Cemetery of Sitges 1903 Llimona: R. Camps Pantheon  Cemetery of Sitges 1903
Cemetery of Arenys de Mar:  Cemetery of Sitges:
Massaguer pantheon Mundet pantheon Two views of R. Camps pantheon




 
 

Selected LINKS to other websites on Josep Llimona i Bruguera

http://www.bcn.es/publicacions/Bcn_escultures/autorsFrame.html Web of Barcelona city council, showing photos of thirteen  sculptures of Llimona in various places of the city.  

 

Specific Bibliography on Books on Josep Llimona i Bruguera

Title Author Published by Year

 Guía del Cementerio de Montjuïc 

 Aguado, Neus

 Institut Municipal dels Serveis
 Funeraris de Barcelona

1993
 El arte modernista catalán  Cirici i Pellicer   1951
 L'escultura catalana  Cirici i Pellicer   1957
 Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana  Different authors  Enciclopèdia Catalana
 Enciclopèdia Salvat Català  Different authors  Edicions Salvat  
 Artistas catalanes  G. Camio, Pedro  Editorial Zoila Ascasibar 1929
 Josep Llimona y Joan Llimona, Vida y Obra  Infiesta Monterde, Josep M  Edicions de Nou Art Thor 1977
 Un siglo de escultura catalana  Infiesta, José Manuel    1975
 Modernismo en Cataluña  Infiesta, José Manuel    1976
 José Llimona, escultor  Monedero Puig, Manuela  Editora Nacional Madrid 1966
 Tres senyors: Josep Llimona  Plà, Josep   1971
 El arte modernista en Barcelona  Ràfols, J. F.   1943
 Modernismo y Modernistas  Ràfols, J. F.   1949
 Diccionario bibliográfico de artistas de
 Cataluña
 Ràfols, J. F.   1953
 Nuestros artistas  Serra, Francisco   1954
 L'escultura del segle XIX a Catalunya  Subirachs i Burgaya, Judit  Publicacions de l'Abadia de
 Montserrat
1994
 Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler  Wolmer, Hans   1953
 

Specific Bibliography on Chronicles on Josep Llimona i Bruguera

It is a large and varied bibliography of chronicles on Josep Llimona on Cultural magazines and Journals.
See here a List of that media, in alphabetical order:
(For inquiries, contact the Library of "Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya" -National Art Museum of Catalonia- MNAC)

Arte - Barcelona Atracción - Butlletí del Centre Excursionista de Catalunya - Butlletí dels Museus d'Art de Barcelona - La ciutat & la casa - Catalonia - Catalunya - Catalunya artística - Coleccionismo - D'ací d'allà . Destino - Esplai Terminal - Le Feu - Gaceta de Bellas Artes - Gaseta de les Arts - Hispània - Il·lustració Catalana - Historia i vida - Joventut - Mirador - Museum - Pel i Ploma - La Revista - Serra d'or - Temple - La Tradició Catalana - Vell i nou - La veu (pagina artística)
 
Other Catalan Art Nouveau Sculptors:

Eusebi ARNAU i Mascort   Miquel BLAY i Fabregues   Joan Carreres   Enric Clarasó i Daudí   Lambert Escaler i Milà   Manel FUXÀ i Leal   Pau GARGALLO i Catalán   Alfons Juyol i Bach   Josep LLIMONA i Bruguera   Agustí Querol   Josep Reynés i Gurguí   Agapit VALLMITJANA i Barbany    VenancI VALLMITJANA i Barbany

 

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