Pere Torné Esquius and the beauty of the small details
MNAC is devoting an exhibition to the most singular Catalan painter of the beginning of the 20th century; a free spirit who worked outside the currents of Catalan modernism and noucentisme
The figure of Pere Torné Esquius (Barcelona 1879 - Flavancourt 1936) is one of the most difficult to place in the world of early 20th century Catalan art. The Catalan modernists never saw him as being one of them, perhaps because his aesthetics was nearer to fauvism, with its images of undomesticated nature, and neither was he really a part of the noucentista current, since his avant-garde approach was less cerebral. He also spent a lot of time in France. He was, in short, a rare specimen, and undoubtedly a fascinating one. That is why his work is once more being exhibited at MNAC until 9 July.
Under the title “Poetics of the Everyday”, the exhibition aims to showcase the favourite topics of Torné Esquius: colourful portraits of secluded spaces such as gardens or living rooms, where calm reigns in spaces devoid of direct human presence. As well as working as a painter, he also specialised in illustration, focussing on children's literature, the illustration of literary texts and collaborations with popular and children’s publications such as Papitu and Picarol.
The exhibition, which is curated by Eduard Vallès and Elena Llorens, can be seen at MNAC from Friday 7 April to 9 July. You can obtain additional information and buy tickets from the museum website.