Manolo
Manolo
Spanish, 1872 - 1945
Spanish sculptor, painter and draughtsman. The difficult circumstances of his childhood and youth were not at all propitious for an artistic training, but he made the most of Barcelona before leaving in 1900 for Paris, where he remained until 1910. Essentially self-taught, he associated with artists based at the Bateau-Lavoir and with writers such as the Greek-born French poet Jean Moréas. Eventually he decided it would be better for his work if he lived somewhere more peaceful and closer to Spain, so with the financial security of a contract with Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler in 1910 he settled in Céret, a small town in the Pyrenees, remaining there until 1915 and living there again from 1919 to 1927 after a period in Barcelona and Arenys de Munt.
Manolo assimilated a wide range of sources including Egyptian and Classical art, Gothic sculpture and Cubism, but the main point of departure for his marriage of idealistic Naturalism and Expressionism was in the art of Rodin. In many respects he is comparable with Aristide Maillol in his feeling for the grandiose and for simplicity, but he had a greater interest in capturing movement and in exploiting a gallery of popular types with great vitality and intensity. Consistently devoted to the human figure, even in his earliest works he demonstrated his ability to handle a variety of specific types and different materials, as in Woman Harvesting (bronze, h. 440 mm, 1913; New York, MOMA), Toreador (stone, 400×300 mm, 1914; Barcelona, Mus. A. Mod.) and Woman’s Head (terracotta, h. 280 mm, 1919; Copenhagen, Stat. Mus. Kst). By close observation he was able to identify in his models elements through which he could express his ideas. Working slowly and using sketches or maquettes when moving towards cast bronzes, he succeeded in externalizing these ideas in reliefs or in the round. His preferred materials were plaster or clay, their pliability helping him to overcome the physical weakness of his hands.
Manolo eventually settled in Caldes de Montbui, in the province of Barcelona, attracted by the medicinal springs and by the simplicity of the surroundings. He remained in touch with the artistic activity of Barcelona and Paris and continued to base his sculptures, such as The Bacchante (bronze, h. 500 mm, 1934; Barcelona, Mus. A. Mod.) and Seated Woman (bronze, h. 900 mm, 1930–31; Barcelona, Ajuntament), on simple and well-defined geometrical shapes such as the cube or sphere, triangle or parallelogram. This formal emphasis elevated what might otherwise have seemed trivial or picturesque beyond an anecdotal level. He was attracted by the graceful figures of dancers and bullfighters and by scenes of popular interest, and he also attained a high level in his treatment of the nude, and his portrait busts, in particular, are distinguished by their psychological insights. He achieved a marked plastic intensity and a strong expressiveness without affectation, and although he is known principally as a sculptor with a large and varied output, he was also a versatile and accomplished painter and draughtsman. In works such as Self-portrait (watercolour and pastel, 1927) and the painting Working in the Countryside (1942; both Caldes de Montbui, Mus. Manolo) he used colour to convey form, modelling, light and subtle atmosphere. He also designed jewellery characterized by an elegant symbolism and monumentality. [Montserrat Blanch. "Manolo." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, accessed September 9, 2014, http://www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T053854.]
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