127- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
Calm before the storm
Spain entered the 20thcentury with an encouragingly
perky art scene. Sorrolla and Zuloaga had injected new
life, feeding off the progressive trends in France but also
moulding a new Spanish school in the process; and while
stylistic developments may have come from further afield,
themes were often firmly Spanish. Hermen Anglada-
Camarasa, painting folkloric scenes with a richly coloured
modernist edge, and José Gutiérrez Solana, occupied
by Madrid’s dark slums and a connected, dark psychology,
were among the artists who brought these elements
together in the early 20thcentury. As momentum grew
and the rest of the world took note of Sorrolla and friends,
Spanish art made a sudden, dramatic leap. One man,
Pablo Picasso, led the charge, taking the blend of modern
form and Spanish tradition to the hub of world art, Paris.Modernisme: Catalonia in the frame
The breeding ground for Spain’s new artistic verve was
Catalonia. Close to France, newly industrialised and with
a fresh sense of identity triggered by the 19thcentury
Renaixença, the Catalans embracedModernisme. An
accomplice to the Art Nouveau and Symbolist movements
unfurling elsewhere in Europe,Modernismewas led by
the highly sculptural architect Antoni Gaudí but extended
out into painting. Asymmetry, nature and languid curves
were all important elements.The posters and paintings
of Ramon Casas were at the forefront, often exhibited in
the Barcelonan bar, Els Quatre Gats, that he part-owned
with another renowned artist of the time, Santiago Rusiñol.
The same watering hole hosted one of the earliest one-
man shows by Picasso. Another much admired Catalan
artist, Isidro Nonell, painter of poor gypsies, became a
friend to Picasso and influenced his early work.3.1.6 Ripping up the rulebook:
Picasso, Dalí and Miró