19th-20th Century Spanish

Though born in Zaragoza, at a very early age Pablo Gargallo moved with his family to Barcelona, where he began his training in a pottery workshop and later at the studio of Eusebi Arnau i Mascort (1864-1934) and at the , where the sculptor Agapit Vallmitjana (1832-1905) was one of his teachers. Although at this early stage of his life his output was heavily indebted to academicism, he soon began to frequent the famous Els Quatre Gats café where he came into contact with Catalan Modernism and made friends with Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Isidre Nonell (1872-1911) and Ricard Canals (1876-1931), among other artists.

In 1903 he was awarded a scholarship that allowed him to go to Paris for six months. There he met Max Jacob (1876-1944) and visited all the major museums, where he was particularly attracted by the works of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917). Two years after that sojourn he had his first solo exhibition at the famous Sala Parés in Barcelona, which marked the beginning of his career and brought him his first commissions.

In 1913 he returned to Paris, picking up again with his old friendships and starting new ones among avant-garde artists like Pablo Picasso, Max Jacob, Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), Manuel Hugué (1872-1945), the poet Pierre Reverdy (1889-1960) and Juan Gris (1887-1927)… Gris introduced him to Magali Tartanson, the woman who would become his wife and his greatest support throughout his life. They were married two years later in Barcelona.

Back in Barcelona, health problems forced him to undertake small format works and jewellery. In 1920, he became a teacher at the School of Arts and Crafts (currently La Industrial Art School). He stayed in Barcelona—where his daughter Pierrette was born—until 1924, when he was fired from the school for his solidarity with another teacher and was forced to return to Paris.

Gargallo’s work is eminently sculptural, in which the artist excelled in the treatment of metal in an innovative and cutting-edge manner. He was also recognised for the quality of his drawings. Also worth mentioning is his contribution to modern goldsmithing. Works by Gargallo are in the collections of museums all over the world.