The Sala Parés is the oldest art gallery in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

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. Initially an art store, established in 1840 by Joan Parés, it slowly evolved into a gallery and formally became one in 1877.

History

Founded by the original store owner's son, , an art collector, it became the primary artistic showcase for Barcelona during the "" (Gold Rush), a period of rapid economic growth for the Catalan bourgeoisie. The artists who got their start there at that time include

Modest Urgell Modest Urgell i Inglada, also known by the nickname Katúfol (13 June 1839, Barcelona - 3 April 1919, Barcelona) was a Spanish landscape painter and comic playwright. He used his nickname for cartoons and illustrations. Biography He was born to ...

Romà Ribera Romà Ribera i Cirera (13 December 1848, Barcelona - 29 May 1935, Barcelona) was a Catalan genre painter. He specialized in contemporary scenes from upper-class social events, rendered in meticulous detail, but also did numerous scenes from life ...

, Josep and

Francesc Masriera Francesc Masriera i Manovens (21 October 1842, Barcelona — 15 March 1902, Barcelona) was a Spanish figure painter and goldsmith who was influenced by Orientalism. Biography He was born into a family of painters, set designers and silver ...

and

Simó Gómez Simó Gómez Polo (11 November 1845 – 11 June 1880) was a Catalonia, Catalan painter and engraver in the Realism (art), Realist style. Biography He was born in Barcelona, and studied at the Escola de la Llotja under Ramón Martí Alsina a ...

.Article
in the

Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana The ''Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana'' (in English: the ''Great Catalan Encyclopedia'') is a Catalan-language encyclopedia, started in fascicles, and published in 1968 by . The soul of the work was written by Max Cahner, and the first director was ...

. In the early 1890s, it became the home base for a new generation of

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

painters such as

Santiago Rusiñol Santiago Rusiñol i Prats (, ; Barcelona 25 February 1861 – Aranjuez 13 June 1931) was a Spanish painter, poet, journalist, collector and playwright. He was one of the leaders of the Catalan '' modernisme'' movement. He created more than ...

and

Ramon Casas Ramon Casas i Carbó (; 4 January 1866 – 29 February 1932) was a Catalan artist. Living through a turbulent time in the history of his native Barcelona, he was known as a portraitist, sketching and painting the intellectual, economic, an ...

. It also became the exhibit hall of choice for the Cercle Artístic de Sant Lluc. A decade later, it was home for the

Post-Modernists Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the "grand narratives" of modern ...

; notably Isidre Nonell,

Joaquim Mir Joaquin Mir Trinxet or Joaquin Mir y Trinxet ( Catalan: ''Joaquim Mir i Trinxet'') ( Barcelona 6 January 1873 – 8 April 1940) was a Catalan artist known for his use of color in his paintings. He lived through a turbulent time in the history ...

and . Parés himself showed no particular inclination for any artistic style and was quite eclectic in his choice of works for display. This eventually led to a decline in favor of other galleries with more specific orientations, such as the Faianç Català, the Galeries Laietanes (both devoted to Noucentisme) and the Galeries Dalmau (

Avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

). In 1925, it was acquired by the art dealer, , youngest son of the poet Joan Maragall. The gallery was completely redesigned and began to promote younger artists, including , , Manolo Hugué, and

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

. Auctions were also established and it became a major supplier of older paintings for museums. After World War II, although the gallery maintained its connections to the avant-garde, it also began to focus more on

Postimpressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction aga ...

and other relatively conservative styles. A branch in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

, known as the "Swan Gallery" is operated by Maragall's son.Pere Andreau Cullell Farràs, ''L'oasi català'', Planeta, 2001 In 2013, it was announced that a showroom would be opened in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China. Some of the artists represented were,

Gabino Rey Gabino Rey Santiago (January 8, 1928 – April 30, 2006), known artistically as Gabino, was a Spanish painter. He was the son of the republican politician Agustín Rey Fonseca and father of the painter Pablo Rey. Biography He was born January 8, 1 ...

, , , and , among others.

References

External links

Sala Parés website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sala Pares 1877 establishments in Spain Art galleries established in 1877 Art museums and galleries in Spain Contemporary art galleries in Spain Buildings and structures in Barcelona Culture in Barcelona Tourist attractions in Barcelona

History

References

Further reading

External links