C O N T E N T
6 Preface
Benno Tempel
8
I believe that innovation flows from tradition
Laura Stamps
20
Picasso and González: Drawing in space
Marilyn McCully
34
Julio González at the crossroads of abstraction
Carmen Fernández Aparicio
48
Cubism, Purism and abstraction in Julio González’s metal sculpture
Tomàs Llorens
62
La Montserrat, resistance and grief
Valeriano Bozal
72
Liberation in metal The techniques of Julio González
Janine van Reekum
84
González, the craftsman
108
González, the avant-gardist
158
González and friends Pablo Picasso, Pablo Gargallo, Constantin Brancusi and Hans Hartung
200
González, from ‘Mother and Child’ to ‘La Montserrat’
232
González, Picasso and the Spanish Civil War
250
Picasso sculpteur et les cathédrales Edited version of González’s unpublished manuscript
258
List of images
270 Index 271
Photo credits
272 Colophon
P R E F A C E
Julio González (Barcelona, Spain, 1876 – Arcueil, France, 1942), who trained as a traditional craftsman, was one of the most important sculptors of the early to mid twentieth century. Employed as a metalworker and gold- and silversmith in his father’s workshop, he learned the Catalan speciality of decorative ironwork, producing the iron railings with their elegant lines and curls that can still be seen in north-eastern Spain today. With his traditional knowledge and skills, González became one of the first artists to make sculptures using iron. Furthermore, at around the age of 50, he developed a highly personal abstract style that, while related to Cubism, Constructivism and Surrealism, remained rooted in figuration. He saw his sculptures as ‘drawings in space’, whereby the empty space explicitly constituted part of the work. American sculptor David Smith (1906-65) called him ‘the father of modern metal sculpture’, and he is still known as such to this day. The exhibition ‘González, Picasso and Friends’ traces González’s development from craftsman to progressive artist. Trained as a metalworker, he could never have developed into a truly modern artist without the opportunity for dialogue with his artist friends, particularly Picasso, whom he met at the popular artists’ café Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona. Around 1900, the two young artists moved to Paris, then the centre of European art, where their friendship grew stronger. After an argument with Julio’s brother Joan in 1904, they lost contact for a while. In the 1910s González was making sculptures in terracotta, silver, copper and bronze, though he did not regard them as autonomous artworks, simply as an aspect of his decorative work. At that time, his ambition was still to become a painter, even though his talents lay elsewhere. Spanish sculptor Pablo Gargallo encouraged him to become a modern sculptor, and González introduced Gargallo to autogenous welding. In the late 1920s, Picasso asked González, who by then had been working at Constantin Brancusi’s studio for a few years, for advice on working with metal. This resulted in a collaboration that lasted from 1928 to 1932. Together they made a number of sculptures that are usually ascribed solely to Picasso. González’s role should not, however, be underestimated, particularly on a technical level. For him, this was the final stage in the development of his purely personal form of abstraction; and for Picasso these were his first experiments with welding metal, which enabled him to grow enormously as a sculptor. Another important event in the lifelong friendship between González and Picasso was the Paris World’s Fair of 1937. In the Pavilion of the Spanish Republic, González displayed one of his versions of La Montserrat (1936/37, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam) beside Picasso’s Guernica. While Picasso’s painting became an international symbol of the horrors of war, La Montserrat is much less well known among the general public. Nevertheless, González’s peasant women, some of whom carry a child and a sickle, developed into highly emotional depictions of the impact of war on ordinary people. In the years that followed, he produced screaming masks and busts of peasant women to represent his people’s suffering. Homme Cactus I (Cactus Man I, a bronze version of which is in the Gemeentemuseum’s collection) and Homme Cactus II (Cactus Man II, also known as Cactus Woman) (both 1939-40) can be seen as symbols of the Spanish Civil War. Cacti are known for being able to survive drought for many years, and the cactus figures represent the indomitable Catalan spirit that persisted despite Franco’s victory. The exhibition focuses on the collaboration between González and Picasso. It also examines the personal friendships that González maintained with sculptors Constantin Brancusi and Pablo Gargallo, and painter Hans Hartung (González’s son-in-law, who administered his estate for a time).
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In 2009, the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag held the exhibition ‘Cézanne – Picasso – Mondrian’, which also explored the artistic interaction between artists, in this case artists from different generations and countries. Such exhibitions provide an insight into the development of artists – developments that seldom occur in isolation. ‘González, Picasso and Friends’ is also one in a series of exhibitions on modern sculpture, which have previously included ‘Hans Bellmer – Louise Bourgeois. Double Sexus’ (2010-11); ‘Alexander Calder: The Great Discovery’ (2012) and ‘From Rodin to Bourgeois: Sculpture in the 20th Century’ (2016). We are keen to familiarise our visitors with sculpture, an art form that has been somewhat overlooked in Dutch museums. This major exhibition at Gemeentemuseum Den Haag is the result of a unique collaboration between four international museums. We are very grateful to our colleagues for their willingness to explore with us the role of friendship in the development of González’s art. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid helped us develop the substance of the exhibition, offering us a fine selection of some 50 works and in particular loaning us one extraordinary piece: Picasso’s La Femme au jardin (Woman in the Garden, 1930-1932). This larger-than-life bronze sculpture is almost never loaned out and we are most grateful to Reina Sofía for making an exception on this occasion. Laura Stamps, modern art curator at the Gemeentemuseum, worked closely with curator Carmen Fernández Aparicio, who specialises in Spanish sculpture from the early to mid twentieth century. Centre Pompidou in Paris, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern (IVAM) and Musée national Picasso, Paris are also partners in this ambitious project. Works from their fine collections are displayed alongside pieces from various private and public collections in the Netherlands and elsewhere. I am grateful to all those who have loaned works for their generous support. Josep Salvador and Eloísa García of IVAM deserve a special mention. They not only opened their archives and made some very valuable suggestions, they also shared their extensive network with us. Philippe and Isabelle Grimminger of the Julio González Estate also warrant a separate mention. Their knowledge of González’s unique body of work led us to new insights. González expert and author of the catalogue raisonné, Tomàs Llorens, who is also a former director of both the Reina Sofía and IVAM, advised on both this book and the exhibition. We are very grateful to him for his generosity in sharing his vast knowledge with us. Inspired by the permanent De Stijl display at the Gemeentemuseum and the De Stijl centenary celebrations, he explored the relationship between González and the members and ideas of the De Stijl movement for this publication. This new research is based on the thorough knowledge he has amassed over several decades – just in time for the end of the centenary year! I should also like to express my thanks to Hannibal Publishing for producing this catalogue, which has been beautifully designed by Tim Bisschop. Thanks also to Carmen Fernández Aparicio, art philosopher Valeriano Bozal, Picasso expert Marilyn McCully, metal restorer Janine van Reekum and curator Laura Stamps for their contributions to this publication. The project would never have been possible in this particular form without Fonds 21 and the Mondrian Fund. I should also like to thank the Spanish Embassy and Instituto Cervantes for their kind collaboration. Benno Tempel Director Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
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I BELIEVE THAT INNOVATION FLOW S FROM TRADITION
“The real problem to be resolved here is not only to make a harmonious work that is a beautiful and perfectly balanced ensemble… No! It is to achieve this through a marriage of matter and space, through the unification of real forms with self-invented forms […] and, like the natural law of love, to bring them together and make them inseparable, like body and soul.”1 Julio González
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Laura Stamps Curator Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
I B E L I E V E T H A T I N N O VA T I O N F L O W S F R O M T R A D I T I O N
‘Look, at the end of the day I’m a traditionalist. Really. I’m not a revolutionary, I’m someone who deeply believes in tradition. I believe that innovation comes from tradition.’2 A significant statement by theatre director Ivo van Hove at the end of his period as director of the Holland Festival in 2004. A sign of the times, too, for in the years that followed traditions were restored in many areas of society. Hair stylists were known as barbers again, cooking like grandma became the thing and houses had to be restored to their original look. Traditional became progressive.
painted. Both aspired to become painters. They were members of the Circul Artistíc de San Lluc, a conservative Catholic group of artists led by their uncle, the illustrator and painter José Luis Pellicer. The group’s most famous member was Antonio Gaudí. The younger members of the Circul formed their own group, which often met at the family’s home. Argentinian painter Joaquín Torres-García recalled ‘Juan and Julio had very similar ideologies […]. They readily made generalizations and from there went on to construct universals, which, however, always referred to Nature. In this way they built a world that was ideal and real at the same time.’3 In terms of personality, however, they were completely different. Sources indicate that Joan was easy-going, while Julio was sceptical and shy. When their father Concordio died, Joan, as the oldest son, took over the company, moving it to Paris in 1899. Although, like Julio, he would have been aware of the opportunities for painters in the French capital, this was above all a family decision. Business was not good in Barcelona and Paris looked like a promising alternative.4 In 1900 Julio González moved to Paris for good, where he occasionally exhibited his paintings at the Salon des Indépendants. He enjoyed little success with them, however. Julio and Joan had already met Picasso at the artists’ café Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona [ fig. 1], but they did not become friends until they were all in Paris. Picasso stayed with Joan and Julio on a number of occasions when he was still splitting his time between the City of Light and Barcelona. It was Joan who, in 1904, gave him a sheet of zinc on which he had already sketched the beginnings of a landscape. Picasso produced his
Although artist Julio González lived a century ago, and in terms of personality was the polar opposite of the flamboyant Van Hove, he too could have made this statement. Tradition and innovation are essential concepts when it comes to understanding his work. In this article, I shall explore González the man and the artist from three angles – ‘the craftsman and the avant-gardist’, ‘the pupil and the master’, and ‘the Catalonian and the world’ – and reveal the extent to which tradition and innovation are interwoven in his work. The craftsman and the avant-gardist
The life of Julio González, or Juli González as he was known to his Catalan friends, is often summarised as the story of a metalworker in Barcelona who, thanks to his collaboration with Picasso, became an avant-garde sculptor in Paris. It sounds like a fairy tale, but this needs putting into perspective. His is not the story of a young genius who shook the art world to its core from the moment he appeared on the scene. González was already in his fifties when he arrived at his innovative form of sculpture. Though his friendship and collaboration with Picasso from 1928 to 1932 was highly inspiring, to hold Picasso solely responsible for the genesis of González the artist would be going too far. His progressive sculptures were made after a lifetime of experience. A simple life that, on a day-to-day basis, consisted of hard work, doubts, exploration, errors, unflagging curiosity and constant discoveries. He started his career in the workshop run by his father, gold- and silversmith Concordio González, where at a young age he learned forging, soldering, cutting and other metalworking techniques. He made small, traditional decorative objects for the home, and also jewellery. All the children helped their father, including his sisters Pilar and Lola and his older brother Joan. From 1892, the family lived and worked on the Rambla de Cataluña. They participated in several decorative arts exhibitions in Barcelona in 1892, 1896 and 1898, both together under the name González y hijos (González and Sons) and individually. Julio spent a lot of his time with his brother, and although they were both busy working in the family business, they also drew and
[1]
[ fig. 1] Façade of Els Quatre Gats, Barcelona, c. 1900
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I B E L I E V E T H A T I N N O VA T I O N F L O W S F R O M T R A D I T I O N
first etching, Le Repas frugal (The Frugal Meal) [ fig. 2], after Joan had helped him master the unfamiliar technique. Shortly afterwards their friendship cooled, however, so Julio also saw Picasso less. Julio was devastated when Joan died in 1908. In the years that followed he continued to work as a gold- and silversmith. Although he also continued drawing and painting, he did not exhibit any of his uncommissioned work again until the Salon d’Automne of 1913. He also made figurative (metal) sculptures, which he regarded as an extension of his decorative work. These were small pieces: heads, plus seated and reclining female nudes. Skilfully executed, but far from progressive. At the end of World War I, González was working at the Renault factory, where he learned oxyacetylene fusion welding. He was fascinated by this new technique, which allowed pieces of steel to be joined more directly, durably and less visibly. He had now mastered a range of metalworking techniques, from ancient and traditional to highly advanced.5 However, he had not yet entirely relinquished his ambition to become a painter, and it would not become clear until a decade later that it was in fact his traditional skills that would enable him to become a modern artist. More of this in the ‘pupil and master’ section. González made his trailblazing work between 1928 and 1939, while he was attempting to make a ‘drawing in space’. Thanks to his craftsmanship, he was able to work as freely in the medium of sculpture as with pencil and paper. A sculpture had traditionally been hewn from a single block of stone or modelled in clay and then cast in bronze. González transformed this slow process into a highly immediate form of artistic expression. Using iron elements that he welded together, he was able to assemble a sculpture directly, without any intermediate stages. The empty space was not only an explicit part of the sculpture, it also functioned as positive mass. In Femme à la corbeille (Woman with Basket) [ fig. 3] of 1934, for example, he succeeded
in suggesting a figure using only contours in steel wire. Although González abstracted his subjects to a large degree in this period, the basis remained figurative. This could have been because of his Catholic background, and a desire to stick to what God had created. González not only managed to bring together matter and space in his work, he also unified ‘real forms with self- invented forms’, bringing harmony to duality. The art world immediately recognised that this new work was something interesting. González took part in the Salon des Surindépendants in 1931, 1932 and 1933, and had several solo exhibitions, including at Galerie de France and Galerie des Cahiers d’arts. His work featured in the ‘Exposition de la sculpture contemporaine’ at Georges Petit in 1934, and the exhibition ‘Thèse, Antithèse, Synthèse’ in Lucerne in 1935. This work did not pay enough to live on, however, and he continued to make jewellery and decorative objects. Despite being part of the avant-garde, it was his traditional craftsman’s skills with which he would continue to earn a living until his death in 1942.6 After World War II, the artistic avant-garde tended to focus on the materiality of the medium in which they worked. For painters such as Jackson Pollock (1912-56) and Antoni Tàpies (1923-2012), and also sculptors like David Smith (1906-65) [ fig. 4] and Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002) [ fig. 5], this even became something of an obsession. They acknowledged Julio González as an important forerunner. Not only did he work mainly in iron, his work process was also clearly visible in his sculptures. It was David Smith who finally established González’s name as the ‘father of metal sculpture’. When MoMA in New York staged a González retrospective in 1956, he wrote his influential article ‘González: First Master of the Torch’, which was published in the magazine Art News.7 Naturally, Smith above all praised his use of materials and his techniques.
[2] [ fig. 2] Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Le Repas frugal (The Frugal Meal), 1904 Etching 46.3 x 37 cm Gemeentemuseum Den Haag © Succession Picasso [ fig. 3] Julio González (1876-1942) Femme à la corbeille (Woman with Basket), 1934 Forged and welded iron on a stone base 172 x 63.5 x 62.5 cm Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle, Paris
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[3]
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[4]
[5]
[ fig. 4] David Smith in his studio in Voltri, Italy, 1962 Photo: Ugo Mulas [ fig. 5] Eduardo Chillida (1924-2002) Elogio del Horizonte (Praise of the Horizon), 1990 Concrete 9.8 m high Gijón, Spain
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Barcelona, Gargallo began working with sheet metal, making two-dimensional cut and chased masks on to which he soldered decorative elements, as well as the eyes, nose and mouth. In 1923 Gargallo moved to Paris, where González introduced him to oxyacetylenefusion welding. Gargallo recognised González’s talent and encouraged him to focus entirely on sculpture. At that time, Gargallo was well on the way to developing his mature style.8 His contacts with Gargallo seem to have planted a seed in González that would later lead to the development of his own innovative form of sculpture. His later works Homme Cactus I (Cactus Man I) and Homme Cactus II (Cactus Man II) are reminiscent of Gargallo’s The Prophet (1933).9
The pupil and the master
Besides being both a craftsman and an avant-gardist, González can also be described as both pupil and master. Of course, this essentially applies to anyone who learns a craft, but González sometimes fulfilled the two roles in parallel. This double role brought him many benefits. As a young boy he was a pupil of his father, his older brother and the Renault factory. This was how he mastered the techniques of smithing and forging. It was this craftsmanship that gave him the opportunity to observe at close hand how sculptors like Pablo Gargallo (1881-1934), Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) and Pablo Picasso worked, when they asked him to teach them his specific skills. This not only allowed González to become acquainted with their methods, he was also able to absorb their progressive ideas about sculpture. The ideal way for this man who was basically quite solitary to relate to and develop his own vision of modernity. Spanish sculptor Pablo Gargallo was one of the first to ask González for technical assistance. They had met around 1903, when Gargallo spent six months in Paris. Back in
Around 1924 and 1925, González began working as an assistant in Brancusi’s studio [ fig. 6], making armatures and stone plinths for him. They had already been friends for some time. Like González, Brancusi was a quiet man who preferred to stay home in the evenings.10 Years later, Brancusi’s influence could literally be seen in González’s work, for example in Le Cagoulard (The Hooded One)11 [ fig. 7] of 1935-36, which shows similarities
[6]
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[7]
with Brancusi’s bronze Muse endormie II (Sleeping Muse II) [ fig. 8] of 1925. ‘Everything I do is seeking after form to resolve the maddeningly difficult problem of getting all the forms in one form’12 is how Brancusi once aptly described his task as an artist. Ultimately, his solution was to give his sculptures a reflective surface, so they would unite with the surrounding space. It was this that made his work so innovative. Several years later, in a certain sense González went a step further in his innovations. Not only was he the first truly modern sculptor to work in metal, he also replaced the idea of form from mass with form from vacant space. Like Brancusi, but using totally different media, González allowed material and space to meld. His recumbent head, Le Cagoulard, made of pieces of bronze welded together, is visibly hollow, while Brancusi’s Muse endormie is solid and lustrous. In works like Femme se coiffant I (Woman Combing Her Hair I, 1931) [ fig. 9] and Woman with Basket, González plays with perception in another way. It is difficult to determine which is the front and which is the back of these sculptures. Whichever side you stand on, it is as if you can see the features of all sides at the same time, just like the figures in a Cubist painting.13 Picasso believed that Cubist painting was closely related to sculpture. González makes an interesting observation in his essay Picasso sculpteur (1936): ‘In 1908, at the time of his first Cubist paintings, Picasso gave us form not as a silhouette, not as a projection of the object, but by putting planes, syntheses, and the cube of these in relief, as in a construction. With these paintings, Picasso told me, it is only necessary to cut them out – the colours are only the indications of different perspectives, of planes inclined
[8]
[ fig. 6] Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) Self-portrait in his studio, undated Gelatin silver print 15 x 10 cm Centre Pompidou − Musée national d’art moderne − Centre de création industrielle, Paris [ fig. 7] Julio González (1876-1942) Le Cagoulard (The Hooded One), 1935 Forged, cut and soldered bronze 15 x 22.8 x 20 cm IVAM, Institut Valencià d’ Art Modern, Generalitat
[9]
[ fig. 8] Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) Muse endormie II (Sleeping Muse II), c. 1925 Polished bronze 17 x 27 x 17 cm Kunsthaus Zürich, legacy Heinz Keller [ fig. 9] Julio González (1876-1942) Femme se coiffant I (Woman Combing Her Hair I), 1931 Forged and welded iron 168.5 x 54 x 27 cm Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle, Paris
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FRIENDSHIP WITH PICASSO
Pablo Picasso Figure: projet pour un monument à Apollinaire (Figure: Design for a Monument to Guillaume Apollinaire) 1928
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Pablo Picasso Figure: projet pour un monument à Apollinaire (Figure: Design for a Monument to Guillaume Apollinaire) 1928
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FRIENDSHIP WITH PICASSO
Pablo Picasso Figure: projet pour un monument à Apollinaire (Figure: Design for a Monument to Guillaume Apollinaire) 1928
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This book has been published to accompany the exhibition González, Picasso and friends at Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, from 25 November 2017 to 2 April 2018. Director Benno Tempel
Printer die Keure, Bruges, Belgium
Head of exhibitions Daniel Koep
Binder Brepols, Turnhout, Belgium
Curator Laura Stamps
Exhibition coordinators Esther van der Minne Silvia Nuijten-Nelis
Assistant curator Krista van der Bron
Exhibition designer Roland Buschmann
Authors Valeriano Bozal Carmen Fernández Aparicio Tomás Llorens Marilyn McCully Janine van Reekum Laura Stamps Josephine Withers Copy editors Cath Phillips Aafke van Hoof
Head of exhibition services Ap Gewald PR Astrid Hulsmann Special thanks Mondriaan Fonds Fonds 21 The exhibition has been created in collaboration with:
Editor Laura Stamps
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid with special thanks to Carmen Fernandez Aparicio, senior curator of sculpture
Translators Nuria Rodriquez Sue McDonnell Designer Tim Bisschop
IVAM, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Valencia with special thanks to Josep Salvador Cabrero, hoofdconservator / senior curator
Picture editors Krista van der Bron Vivien Entius Production coordinator Hadewych Van den Bossche
and the generous lenders: Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle, Paris Musée national Picasso, Paris
HANNIBAL
The Gemeentemuseum Den Haag also would like to thank the following institutions and collectors: Fondation Hartung Bergman, Antibes; International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam; collection Alicia Koplowitz – Grupo Omega Capital; KröllerMüller Museum, Otterlo; Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich; Kunstsammlung NordrheinWestfalen, Düsseldorf; Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Noordbrabants Museum, ’s-Hertogenbosch; Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart; Triton Collection Foundation. And those who wish to remain anonymous. The exhibition has been supported by the Dutch government: an indemnity grant has been provided by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands on behalf of the Minister of Education, Culture and Science and the Minister of Finance. For more information on Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, see www.gemeentemuseum.nl For more information on Hannibal Publishing, see www.uitgeverijhannibal.be Hannibal Publishing is part of Cannibal Publishing Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, 2017 Hannibal Publishing, 2017
ISBN 978 94 9267 713 6 D/2017/11922/30 NUR 641 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in an automated database and/or made public in any form or in any way, whether electronically, mechanically or by any other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Gemeentemuseum Den Haag has made every effort to comply with the statutory copyright requirements for all photographs and images. Anyone who believes they have a copyright claim that has not been acknowledged is requested to contact the museum. Copyright on works by artists affiliated to a CISAC organisation has been arranged with Picoright in Amsterdam. © c/o Pictoright Amsterdam, 2017 © Julio González Estate/ADAGP c/o Pictoright 2017 © Fondation Hartung Bergman/ ADAGP c/o Pictoright 2017 All works by Pablo Picasso © Succession Picasso 2017
Cover picture: Julio González, Homme Cactus II (Cactus Man II), 1939, Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne – Centre de création industrielle, Paris Back cover picture: Pablo Picasso in front of the sculpture La Femme au jardin during the exhibition in the Georges Petit gallery, Paris (16 June – 30 July 1932) Photographer unknown