Josep Aragay studied at Francesc Galí’s art academy (1907-1911), where his mentor considered him the student with the greatest potential for success. His paintings were full of boats with billowing sails, and horses and knights that seemed to have been plucked from old tales recounted by troubadours. He was known as the artist of grey landscapes, suffused with shadings of charcoal. He created unsettling portraits, with figures shrouded in mystery looking at us with a sidelong glance, to calculated effect.
A member of the association Les Arts i els Artistes, he began to exhibit his work at Barcelona’s leading art galleries. From that point onwards, his reputation continued to grow and his energetic, temperamental style of painting was discussed in the main newspapers and magazine of the time.
On his return from a trip to Italy in 1917, Josep Aragay radically rejected the Baroque features that characterised his previous period, and his style became purer, more concise and classical. His 1923 painting “Vacances”(Holidays”) best encapsulates this blend of Mediterranean and Classical style that would remain with him until the very end and which triggered controversy among a significant portion of the critics of the time. In the museum in Breda, we can observe the artistic evolution of the painter, who belligerently opposed the avant-garde movements, remaining loyal to the principles of Noucentisme right through to the end of his life.
NOTABLE PAINTINGS
Vacances (Holidays), 1923
Conceived as a true manifesto, Vacances (1923) brings together all the key elements and iconography of Noucentisme. It depicts a classical temple, horse and cavaliers that seem to have been plucked from the friezes of the Parthenon in Athens, and a typical Mediterranean landscape, with its pine trees, the sea, a boat with a lateen sail and an idyllic coastal town. A static motorcycle, but with the wheels spinning at great speed, serves as a criticism of avant-garde painting and, in particular, the principles of the Futurist movement. Exhibited at the Laietanes Galleries in 1924, Vacances was met with fierce criticism.
Finestra oberta, (Open window) 1922
In Finestra oberta (1922), Aragay depicts the bedroom in his home in Breda, painted down to the smallest detail. The covers are pulled back to air the bed, with the typical red and white striped mattress. There is a stylish chair and a small set of shelves, as well as a couple of small tables covered in all kinds of objects and a small vase of coloured flowers illuminated through a wide open window through which we can see trees and the neighbours’ houses, with red rooftops set against the blue sky. The detail on the window, which is the main element of the composition, is a magnificent exercise in perspective, giving the painting depth and bathing the objects in the room with light and colour.
Vacances, Josep Aragay, 1923. Oil on Canvas. Josep Aragay Municipal Museum. Breda.
Finestra oberta or Interior d’una cambra (“Open window” or “Interior of a Room”), Josep Aragay, 1922. Oil on Canvas. Josep Aragay Municipal Museum. Breda.
Josep Aragay studied at Francesc Galí’s art academy (1907-1911), where his mentor considered him the student with the greatest potential for success. His paintings were full of boats with billowing sails, and horses and knights that seemed to have been plucked from old tales recounted by troubadours. He was known as the artist of grey landscapes, suffused with shadings of charcoal. He created unsettling portraits, with figures shrouded in mystery looking at us with a sidelong glance, to calculated effect.
A member of the association Les Arts i els Artistes, he began to exhibit his work at Barcelona’s leading art galleries. From that point onwards, his reputation continued to grow and his energetic, temperamental style of painting was discussed in the main newspapers and magazine of the time.
On his return from a trip to Italy in 1917, Josep Aragay radically rejected the Baroque features that characterised his previous period, and his style became purer, more concise and classical. His 1923 painting “Vacances”(Holidays”) best encapsulates this blend of Mediterranean and Classical style that would remain with him until the very end and which triggered controversy among a significant portion of the critics of the time. In the museum in Breda, we can observe the artistic evolution of the painter, who belligerently opposed the avant-garde movements, remaining loyal to the principles of Noucentisme right through to the end of his life.
NOTABLE PAINTINGS
Vacances (Holidays), 1923
Conceived as a true manifesto, Vacances (1923) brings together all the key elements and iconography of Noucentisme. It depicts a classical temple, horse and cavaliers that seem to have been plucked from the friezes of the Parthenon in Athens, and a typical Mediterranean landscape, with its pine trees, the sea, a boat with a lateen sail and an idyllic coastal town. A static motorcycle, but with the wheels spinning at great speed, serves as a criticism of avant-garde painting and, in particular, the principles of the Futurist movement. Exhibited at the Laietanes Galleries in 1924, Vacances was met with fierce criticism.
Vacances, Josep Aragay, 1923. Oil on Canvas. Josep Aragay Municipal Museum. Breda.
Finestra oberta, (Open window) 1922
In Finestra oberta (1922), Aragay depicts the bedroom in his home in Breda, painted down to the smallest detail. The covers are pulled back to air the bed, with the typical red and white striped mattress. There is a stylish chair and a small set of shelves, as well as a couple of small tables covered in all kinds of objects and a small vase of coloured flowers illuminated through a wide open window through which we can see trees and the neighbours’ houses, with red rooftops set against the blue sky. The detail on the window, which is the main element of the composition, is a magnificent exercise in perspective, giving the painting depth and bathing the objects in the room with light and colour.
Finestra oberta or Interior d’una cambra (“Open window” or “Interior of a Room”), Josep Aragay, 1922. Oil on Canvas. Josep Aragay Municipal Museum. Breda.
