"Bacchanal", Drawing on paper, Emilio Grau Sala (Barcelona, ​​1911 - Barcelona, ​​1975), Spanish school of the 20th ...

"Bacchanal", Drawing on paper, Emilio Grau Sala (Barcelona, ​​1911 - Barcelona, ​​1975), Spanish school of the 20th century, signed and dated 10-12-72
Ink on paper, drawing measures: 45 x 28 cm. Framed measurements: 51 x 36 cm cm. Son of cartoonist Juan Grau Miró, he was born in Barcelona in 1911. Although he attended the School of Fine Arts, his training is considered largely self-taught. His first exhibition took place in 1930, at the "Badriñas Gallery" in the same city. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936), Grau Sala left Spain with his wife, the also painter Ángeles Santos, and settled in Paris. There he will remain for 25 years. In Paris, Grau Sala knows the avant-garde up close but clearly opts for a friendly and colorful figuration, derived from Impressionism and Fauvism. . He illustrates editions of “Madame Bovary”, “The Flowers of Evil” and “Bel Ami”, designs posters and produces lithographs and etchings. In 1963, Grau Sala returned to Barcelona, when the stagnant figuration of Franco's Spain begins to be contested by Oteiza, Chillida, Antoni Tàpies and the “El Paso” collective (Antonio Saura, Manolo Millares, Rafael Canogar). But he remains faithful to his style, and until his death in 1975, he leaves a wide production within the same coordinates: female figures, interiors, and landscapes, in a vaguely classic time setting, nostalgic for the 19th century. A painting of decorative value, which avoids all risks. After his death, and starting in the 1990s, the new boom in mid-level collecting relaunched Grau Sala, understanding him as an interpreter, in a Spanish and accessible key, of a style generically labeled as “impressionist”. Manolo Millares, Rafael Canogar). But he remains faithful to his style, and until his death in 1975, he leaves a wide production within the same coordinates: female figures, interiors, and landscapes, in a vaguely classic time setting, nostalgic for the 19th century. A painting of decorative value, which avoids all risks. After his death, and starting in the 1990s, the new boom in mid-level collecting relaunched Grau Sala, understanding him as an interpreter, in a Spanish and accessible key, of a style generically labeled as “impressionist”. Manolo Millares, Rafael Canogar). But he remains faithful to his style, and until his death in 1975, he leaves a wide production within the same coordinates: female figures, interiors, and landscapes, in a vaguely classic time setting, nostalgic for the 19th century. A painting of decorative value, which avoids all risks. After his death, and starting in the 1990s, the new boom in mid-level collecting relaunched Grau Sala, understanding him as an interpreter, in a Spanish and accessible key, of a style generically labeled as “impressionist”. A painting of decorative value, which avoids all risks. After his death, and starting in the 1990s, the new boom in mid-level collecting relaunched Grau Sala, understanding him as an interpreter, in a Spanish and accessible key, of a style generically labeled as “impressionist”. A painting of decorative value, which avoids all risks. After his death, and starting in the 1990s, the new boom in mid-level collecting relaunched Grau Sala, understanding him as an interpreter, in a Spanish and accessible key, of a style generically labeled as “impressionist”.