Manuel Martinez Hugué, better known simply as Manolo (29 April 1872 – 17 November 1945), was a Catalan Spanish sculptor in the noucentisme movement. Although a friend of

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is ...

, his style was much closer to that of

Aristide Maillol Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University P ...

Biography

Manolo was born in Barcelona in 1872, the son of a general who soon abandoned his child to go fight in the

Ten Years' War The Ten Years' War ( es, Guerra de los Diez Años; 1868–1878), also known as the Great War () and the War of '68, was part of Cuba's fight for independence from Spain. The uprising was led by Cuban-born planters and other wealthy natives. O ...

, and of a mother who died when Manolo was still young. He was friends with Pablo Picasso and a part of the circle at the

4 Gats Els Quatre Gats (; ) is a café in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain that famously became a popular meeting place for famous artists throughout the modernist period in Catalonia, known as ''Modernisme''. The café opened on 12 June 1897 in the famous Ca ...

, and lived in Paris from 1900 to 1909, where he was one of the people welcoming Picasso and introducing him to the artistic circles of the city. He was one of Picasso’s closest friends at the

Bateau Lavoir The Bateau-Lavoir ("Washhouse Boat") is the nickname of a building in the Montmartre district of the 18th arrondissement of Paris that is famous in art history as the residence and meeting place for a group of outstanding early 20th-century artis ...

, together with people like

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire) of the Wąż coat of arms. (; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French French poetry, poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist, and art critic of Polish-Belarusian, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered ...

and Max Jacob. In Paris, Manolo mostly worked on small sculptures and on jewellery to make a living. He was married to Jeanne de Rochette, known as Totote, a barmaid from around Montmartre, in or shortly before 1910. They had an adopted daughter Rosa Jordana, called Rosita. Both Rosita and Totote were drawn in pencil by Picasso in 1954. In 1910, together with

Frank Burty Haviland Frank Burty Haviland (16 October 1886 – November 1971) was a French Cubist painter, a friend and early client of Picasso and Braque, and an early collector of African art. Biography Frank Burty Haviland (or simply Frank Burty or Frank Haviland ...

and Déodat de Séverac he went to Céret, soon followed for short or long periods by most of the Cubist artists, including Picasso,

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...

, Max Jacob and

Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic ge ...

. He installed himself in the cloister bought by Burty Haviland, where Picasso took over the first floor. He started working on larger sculptures, including the Monument for Déodat de Séverac in 1923, and a Monument for the Dead in 1924. Due to health problems, mainly

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In some ...

, he again had to scale back his work. Manolo stayed in Céret until 1928, when he moved back to Spain, to the spa town Caldes de Montbui, the birth town of his grandmother, seeking relief for his arthritis. He was supported by Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler from 1912 until 1933, and participated in the 1913 Armory Show. Many group and individual exhibitions followed. He was made a member of the

Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi The Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi (, in English "Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Saint George") is a Catalan art school located in Barcelona. The president is the architect Jordi Bonet i Armengol. The institution ...

. In 1932, he had a large solo exhibition at the

Grand Palais The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées ( en, Great Palace of the Elysian Fields), commonly known as the Grand Palais ( English: Great Palace), is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th ...

in Paris. Manolo died in the spa town of Caldes de Montbui, on 17 November 1945. After his death, his widow Totote stayed for a while with the Comte and Comtesse de Lazerme, rich art patrons from

Perpignan Perpignan (, , ; ca, Perpinyà ; es, Perpiñán ; it, Perpignano ) is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, in the heart of the plain of Roussillon, at the foot of the Pyrenees a few kilometres from the ...

, and lived otherwise at the Manolo house in Caldes, until her death in 1971. Manolo’s house in Caldes has been turned into the Museu

Thermalia Thermalia is a thematic centre dedicated to the hot spring culture and is found in Caldes de Montbui (Catalonia). The Thermalia Museum is located in a building dating back to Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieva ...

, housing the Manolo Fund, which includes apart from works by and information on Manolo, also about 100 works by Picasso. The personal papers of Manolo Hugué are preserved in the Biblioteca de Catalunya

In popular fiction

In the 2013 Spanish film , Manolo is played by

Jordi Vilches Jordi () is the Catalan form of the ancient Greek name Georgios. Jordi is a popular name in Catalonia and is also given in the Netherlands and in Spanish-, English- and German-speaking countries. Jordi may also refer to: *Sant Jordi – patron sa ...

Notes

External links

Personal papers of Manolo Hugué in Biblioteca de Catalunya
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Manolo 1872 births 1945 deaths People from Barcelona Sculptors from Catalonia 20th-century sculptors People of Montmartre

Biography

In popular fiction

Notes

Further reading

External links