ArtistSpanish (Catalan)
Josep Maria Subirachs
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Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar was born on 11 March 1927 in the Poblenou neighbourhood of Barcelona. His family had modest means - his father worked in a dye factory - and though his early ambition leaned toward architecture, he found his path in sculpture. Between 1942 and 1947 he trained under Enric Monjo, and subsequently worked alongside the Noucentisme master Enric Casanovas. These formative years gave him a strong technical foundation in classical Catalan sculptural tradition.
A turning point came in 1951 when he received a scholarship from the Cercle Maillol of the Institut Francès de Barcelona to study in Paris. Contact with the avant-garde there, and particularly the influence of Henry Moore, pushed him away from the figurative. Between 1953 and 1965 his work shifted progressively from Expressionism - angular, emotionally charged bodies with rough textures - toward geometric abstraction. In 1957 he received his first public commission, Forma 212, installed at Llars Mundet in Barcelona, which he later described as the first abstract work placed on a public street in the city. In 1954 to 1956 he lived and worked in Belgium, exhibiting there and participating in the Biennale of Antwerp.
Subirachs held his first solo exhibition in 1948 at the Casa del Llibre in Barcelona, presenting ten sculptures and six drawings. He subsequently showed regularly at the October Salons in Barcelona through 1957. Over the decades he worked across sculpture, painting, engraving, stage design, and art criticism - a range that positioned him as one of the most versatile artists of his generation in Catalonia. He was elected to the Catalan Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1980 and to the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in 1989.
His most consequential commission came in 1986, when the Junta Constructora of the Sagrada Família invited him to complete the Passion Facade left unfinished by Antoni Gaudí. Subirachs spent the next 18 years on the project, creating sculpture groups in travertine and Floresta sandstone, four bronze doors engraved with texts from the Gospel of John in Catalan, and the sculpture of the Ascension on the bridge connecting the central bell towers. Rather than imitating Gaudí's organic naturalism, Subirachs used his own language - sharp, geometric, expressionist forms with wrinkled textures - which drew significant controversy at first but has gradually earned wider appreciation. His work on the Sagrada Família was declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest by the Government of Catalonia.
Among his honours were the Medalla de Oro al Mérito en las Bellas Artes from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture, the Creu de Sant Jordi from the Generalitat de Catalunya, and the Gold Medal for Artistic Merit from the Barcelona City Council. He stopped working in 2010 due to Parkinson's disease and died in Barcelona on 7 April 2014, aged 87. On Auctionist, 17 works by Subirachs are catalogued, sold primarily through Spanish houses including Arce Auctions and Balclis. Top results include a bronze and resin sculpture "Eva" reaching 8,744 SEK and "Moira" at 6,421 SEK, with prints and drawings also present in the market.