Julio González (sculptor)

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For other people named Julio Gonzalez, see Julio Gonzalez (disambiguation).
In this
Catalan name, the first or paternal surname
is González and the second or maternal family name is Pellicer; both are generally joined by the conjunction "i".
Julio González
Julio González, 1912
Born
Julio González Pellicer

(1876-09-21)21 September 1876
Barcelona, Spain
Died27 March 1942(1942-03-27) (aged 65)
Arcueil, France
EducationCercle Artístic de Sant Lluc
Known forPainting, Sculpture
MovementCubism

Julio González i Pellicer (21 September 1876 – 27 March 1942), born in Barcelona, was a Spanish sculptor and painter who developed the expressive use of iron as a medium for modern sculpture. He was from a lineage of metalsmith workers and artists. His grandfather was a goldsmith worker and his father, Concordio González, a metalsmith worker who taught him the techniques of metalsmith in his childhood years.[1] His mother, Pilar Pellicer Fenés, came from a long line of artists.

González attended Circol Artist Sant Luc, a Catholic school whose model of education was based on the medieval art guilds and influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement in England.[1]

Biography

Early life

Julio González Pellicer was born in

café which was the meeting point of many artists, especially those related with modernisme.[2] It was there where they met artists like Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso
.

By the turn of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso and González became great friends. González moved to Paris in 1902, but traveled to Barcelona several times in the early 20th century. At the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, their close friendship is verified by a drawn portrait, entitled "Julio González and the Robust Man Seen from Behind".[3] They remained close friends until 1908; scholars do not know why their friendship ended at this time, but based on González archival materials, it appears to be related to an earlier dispute with Julio's brother, Joan.[4]

Paris

In Paris he associated with the Spanish circle of artists of

analytic cubism. He also forged the infrastructures of Constantin Brâncuși's plasters.[5] In the winter of 1927–28, he showed Picasso how to use oxy-fuel welding and cutting.[5] When their friendship re-established itself, Picasso and González collaborated on a piece called Woman in the Garden between 1928–1930.[1] From October 1928 till 1932, both men worked together—and in 1932, González was the only artist with whom Picasso shared his own personal art notebook.[5] Influenced by Picasso, the fifty-year-old González deeply changed his style, exchanging bronze for iron, and volumes for lines.[5] González began to formalize a new visual language
in sculpture that would change the course of his career.

Ironwork (1932–1937)

González created ironwork at this time that would establish him as "the father of all iron sculpture of this century".

Guernica), and to Cubism and Abstract Art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York
.

Later years (1938–1942)

Monsieur Cactus (Cactus Man I), 1939

In the late 1930s González worked with naturalistic and abstract forms. The art he produced during this period, similar to other Spanish loyalist republican artists living abroad during the Spanish Civil War, reflected the pain and torment they felt. Significant amongst these pieces was his 1939 abstract sculpture Monsieur Cactus (Cactus Man I) which was influential on the development of avant-garde sculpture. Several of the exploratory drawings for the sculpture " .... suggest that the figure is shrieking; the prickly nails intensify the aggressive effect of the work, recalling Picasso’s use of nails in his Guitar of 1926." [7]

As González aged between 1938 and 1940, he drew more.[8] These later works, as scholar Joseph Withers states, “touch on larger problems and personal concerns which necessitated our discussion of these works in the context of González's evidently pessimistic reaction to the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War.[8] González was directly affected by the Second World War; his daughter Roberta González married German painter—and Julio's assistant—Hans Hartung in 1938.[4] When the German invasion occurred in France, the couple had to separate from the rest of the family since Hans Hartung was an anti-Nazi and was wanted by the German secret police.[4] While separated from his daughter and son-in-law, González drew figurative drawings and worked on plaster casts. The drawings and castings produced during the last two years of his life are testimonies to the suffering and despair González felt towards tyranny and war.[1] González died in Arcueil on March 27, 1942.

Public collections

The

Tate Gallery
(London) are among the public collections holding work by Julio González.

The biggest collection of this artist's work is held by the IVAM (Valencia's Institute of Modern Art), in the city of Valencia, Spain, with close to 400 pieces.[9]

Gallery

  • Mà gitada (Main couchée), 1937, wrought iron, 19 x 29,5 x 2,7 cm. Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
    Mà gitada (Main couchée), 1937, wrought iron, 19 x 29,5 x 2,7 cm. Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
  • Ballarina amb margarida, (Danseuse à la marguerite), 1937, wrought iron, 48,3 x 29,2 x 10 cm, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
    Ballarina amb margarida, (Danseuse à la marguerite), 1937, wrought iron, 48,3 x 29,2 x 10 cm, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
  • Màscara de Montserrat cridant (Masque de Montserrat criant), bronze, 32,8 x 14,9 x 12 cm, c. 1938-39, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
    Màscara de Montserrat cridant (Masque de Montserrat criant), bronze, 32,8 x 14,9 x 12 cm, c. 1938-39, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
  • Petite masque baroque (Xicoteta màscara barroca), wrought iron, 12,5 x 11,2 x 1,8 cm, c. 1927-1929, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
    Petite masque baroque (Xicoteta màscara barroca), wrought iron, 12,5 x 11,2 x 1,8 cm, c. 1927-1929, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
  • Dona davant l'espill (Femme au miroir), wrought iron, 208,8 x 60 x 46 cm, c.1936-1937, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
    Dona davant l'espill (Femme au miroir), wrought iron, 208,8 x 60 x 46 cm, c.1936-1937, Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
  • Cap de Montserrat cridant (Tête de Montserrat criant), 1942, chalk, 32 x 20 x 30 cm. Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
    Cap de Montserrat cridant (Tête de Montserrat criant), 1942, chalk, 32 x 20 x 30 cm. Institut Valencià d'Art Modern
  • Nu dempeus melangiós (Nu debout mélancolique), c. 1910-14, chalk, 26'5 x 6'5 x 9'5 cm, Institut Valencià d'art Modern
    Nu dempeus melangiós (Nu debout mélancolique), c. 1910-14, chalk, 26'5 x 6'5 x 9'5 cm, Institut Valencià d'art Modern
  • Femme coiffant une jeune fille (Mujer peinando a una joven), c. 1912-14, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
    Femme coiffant une jeune fille (Mujer peinando a una joven), c. 1912-14, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
  • Maternité au clocher (Maternidad del campanario), c. 1920-28 Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
    Maternité au clocher (Maternidad del campanario), c. 1920-28 Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
  • La petite faucille (La pequeña hoz), c. 1937, bronze, Museo de Escultura al Aire Libre de la Castellana, Madrid
    La petite faucille (La pequeña hoz), c. 1937, bronze, Museo de Escultura al Aire Libre de la Castellana, Madrid

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Llorens, Tomas (1985). Julio Gonzalez: En La Collecion de L'IVAM. Generalitat Valenciana Conselleria de Cultura. pp. 15–52.
  2. ^ a b "Julio González. The IVAM collection". IVAM Exhibition Leaflet. 2013.
  3. ^ "Museu Picasso". Catalogue. Archived from the original on 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
  4. ^ a b c Aguilera Cerni, Vicente (1973). Julio Joan Roberta Gonzalez: Interario de Una Dinastia. Barcelona, Spain: Ediciones Poligrafa, S.A. – Balms, 54. p. 44.
  5. ^ a b c d Le Monde, Julio Gonzalez, la révolution du fer, 4 July 2007 (in French)
  6. ^ a b Rowell, Margit (1987). González: Catalogue Raisonne Sculpture. Spain: Electa. pp. 332–337.
  7. ^ "Julio González "Monsieur " Cactus (Cactus Man I)".
  8. ^ a b Withers, Josephine (1978). Julio Gonzalez: Sculpture in Iron. MW Books. p. 94.
  9. ^ "Julio González artworks preserved at Valencia's IVAM". Archived from the original on 2011-09-13.

Further reading

  • Nancy Marmer, "Julio González: Sculpture in Iron," Art in America, November/December 1978, pp. 23–24.

External links

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