Isidro Nonell Barcelona 1873-1911

Acquired by the family of the present owner at the beginning of the last century

Barcelona, Fainç Català, Exposició d'una gran part des les obres pintades i dibuixades desde'l 1900, 1910

Original canvas. There are two small spots of retouching to the hair and the centre of the composition visible under ultraviolet light, partially obscured under a varnish. Apart from two pinhead-sized spots of paint loss to the left eye of the figure and to the left edge of the canvas, this work is in good and stable condition. Held in a decorative, gold-painted moulded plaster and wood frame.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Nonell's representation of the gypsy figure became both a motif of singular importance to the painter (one that would come to dominate his oeuvre), and an image of social deprivation that defines the liberal generation of artists, writers and intellectuals that congregated at Els Quatre Gats in Barcelona and were at the forefront of Catalonia's Modernista movement. 

The artist's interest in society's outcasts derived in part from his friendship with Juli Vallitjana, a fellow member of the Colla del Safrá (a group of plein air painters whose number also included Joaquín Mir, see lots 303, 318, 322 and 342), who was an expert in the culture and language of the gypsies. Inspired by Vallitjana's writing and familiar with the satirical images of social criticism seen in the works of Steinlen, Daumier and Forain, vagabonds, beggars and the victims of war became Nonell's favourite subjects.

His first public exhibition of such marginalised figures was a set of drawings titled Cretins de Bohi that depicted goitrous simpletons from Caldes de Bohi in the Pyrenees. Published in the Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia in 1896, Nonell followed the series with España después de la guerra, works which described in vivid detail the cost of war and were exhibited at Els Quatre Gats.

It was in Paris, however, that Nonell's work received due critical appraisal. Travelling to Paris with Ricardo Canals in 1897, the two shared a studio on the Butte de Montmartre, a venue that soon became the meeting point for the 'Bande Catalan'. Nonell's work was shown both at the Barc de Bouteville and the Salon des Beaux-Arts, winning him recognition that had been denied him in his native Barcelona. Much admired by the young Picasso, it was to Nonell's studio that Picasso and Casagemas made their way on their arrival in Paris in 1900.