20^th century, Spanish

Born into a family of humble origin who were nevertheless always supportive of his ambition to become an artist, Pere Pruna enrolled at the in Barcelona. Thanks to his father, whose barbershop was frequented by many artists, at the age of thirteen Pere had a chance to exhibit his works at Galería Areñas.

In 1921 Pruna travelled to Paris, where Sebastià Junyer (1878-1966) introduced him to Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), whose work would prove a great inspiration for him. They soon became friends, and Picasso helped him to exhibit and sell his work at Galerie Percier. The influence of the great master, at the time immersed in his classicist period, would be highly noticeable in Pere Pruna’s works, particularly in those made during his time in Paris.

Another major influence on his practice was Renaissance painting. In 1925 he travelled to Italy to see the work of Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520), Piero de la Francesca (ca. 1415-1492) and Sandro Botticelli (ca. 1445-1510) first-hand. He greatly admired what he saw and would translate it into his own work.

But it was in Paris where Pruna settled for a long time. There he met the founder of the Ballets Russes, Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), another major figure who would also have an enduring influence on his career. Diaghilev introduced him to costume and set design, an activity which other artists before him had also carried out, including Picasso and Henri Matisse (1869-1954). Pruna worked on the stage sets for the ballets Les matelots and La pastorale, by Georges Auric, and for the opera Maximilien by Darius Milhaud. These experiences led him to travel widely and, as a result, his painting began to be known wider afield and was highly appreciated in London. Thanks to his newly acquired celebrity he would later exhibit in the United States, Amsterdam and the Venice Biennale in 1936 and 1938.

Pere Pruna’s aesthetic was fully in consonance with the change in taste in Europe at the time, as exemplified by the 1925 Exposition des Arts décoratifs, where the audience noticeably turned its back on . A good demonstration of the international reach of his painting was the second prize the artist was awarded at the 1928 exhibition at the Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh.

Pruna’s practice was chiefly occupied by depictions of young women although he also produced some religious works in which he sought spiritual refuge during periods of upheaval in his life. His choice of medium ranged from ink, pastel and oil to engraving and sculpture. Besides, he was an avid reader and his literary inclinations led him to write some essays and short stories.

Pere Pruna won the Nonell Prize in 1936, the Ciudad de Barcelona Award in 1965, and three years later, in 1968, the key of the city. His work can be found at Museu de Montserrat, where there is a gallery named after him, and at Museu d’Art Contemporani in Barcelona (MACBA) and the Museu de Maricel in Sitges.