Carles Casagemas Sold at Auction Prices

CARLES CASAGEMAS (Barcelona, 1880-Paris, 1901). "Greeting the public", 1899-1900. Pastel and charcoal on paper. Signed in the lower left corner.

CARLES CASAGEMAS (Barcelona, 1880-Paris, 1901). "Greeting the public", 1899-1900. Pastel and charcoal on paper. Signed in the lower left corner. Work exhibited at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (Dec 2014-Feb 2015). Newspaper archive: "La Vanguardia", April 28, 2014, page 34. Measurements: 22 x 15.5 cm; 51`5 x 44 cm (frame) In 2014 the small-format exhibition "Carles Casagemas. The artist under the myth". This exhibition, curated by Eduard Vallés, featured some thirty unpublished or never before exhibited works, among which is the work presented here. Despite the premature death of Casagemas at the age of 21 and his scarce production, his work is one of the most extraordinary of Catalan art and is characterized by a strong social criticism and chronicle of misery. Renowned artist and writer, Carles Casagemas is considered one of the most enigmatic and fascinating personalities of the second modernist generation. Coming from an illustrious family, his father, Manuel Casagemas y Llabrós, was Vice Consul General of the United States in Barcelona and Lluïsa Casagemas, one of his sisters, was a renowned composer. Casagemas initially settled in a studio on Nou de la Rambla street where he organized literary evenings with his friends. After his formative years, the artist was part of the Bohemian-Barcelonian group formed by the Fernández de Soto brothers, Joan Vidal i Ventosa, the Ramon and Cinto Reventós brothers and Jaume Sabartés, among others, and frequented the Quatre Gats tavern where he held an exhibition in 1900. Around 1899 he met Pablo Picasso, with whom he became a close friend and they settled together in a studio at 17, Riera de Sant Joan street. Picasso made several portraits of Casagemas, the first known ones dating from 1899. Together with the master from Malaga he traveled to Paris to visit the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1900. They settled in the former studio of Isidre Nonell, undoubtedly the artist who most influenced the formation of Casagemas' pictorial personality. It was there that he fell in love with Laure Gargallo, known as Germaine Pichot, a model whose personality was crucial to Casagemas' life. After three months, Picasso tried to take his inseparable friend away from Paris because he was beginning to have bad feelings, and took him to Malaga for Christmas. But Casagemas was so obsessed by his model that he would soon return to Paris. Deeply depressed by Germaine's rejection, he tried to kill her with a pistol in the Parisian Café Hippodrome, today Palace Clichy. After missing the shot he aimed at his head and fired, ending his life at the age of 20. The suicide deeply marked the painter's friends, Manolo Hugué and Manuel Pallarés, who were present at the time of the incident. Artistically speaking, there was a before and after in the work of Picasso, who after this incident began his artistic period known as the blue period. The works corresponding to this period are characterized by sober tones and dark themes such as prostitution and poverty. Three months later Picasso returned to Paris, where he occupied his late friend's studio and began a personal relationship with Germaine. There are three works by Picasso that include the death and burial of Casagema. Today his work can be found in museums such as the Cau Ferrat, the Museu d'Art de Sabadell, the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and the Francisco Godia Foundation, among others.