Josep Maria Subirachs

Josep Maria Subirachs i Sitjar (Barcelona, March 11, 1927-ibidem, April 7, 2014) was a sculptor, painter, engraver, stage designer and Spanish art critic. He was one of the most internationally prestigious contemporary Spanish sculptors, as can be seen in the multiple awards and recognitions received from him, as well as in the presence of his work in numerous museums and public places in cities around the world, mainly Barcelona. He also participated in a large number of exhibitions, both collective and individual, in museums and public and private galleries.

A multifaceted artist, Subirachs stood out especially in sculpture, but also in other techniques such as painting, drawing, engraving, poster, tapestry, book illustration, jewelry design and medal minting. He also made numerous stage designs for prestigious theater and ballet productions. Likewise, he worked as an art teacher and, in the theoretical field, as a writer and contributor to magazines and newspapers, art critic and lecturer at universities and academies around the world. In his long career he went through various phases —Mediterranean, expressionist, abstract, new figuration—, periods almost always characterized by geometric shapes, straight and angular lines, and rough textures.

In his work, Subirachs synthesized technical mastery and the purity of materials and textures with the desire to communicate and express a symbolic and transcendental language, through the creation of his own universe of iconographic references that make his production a personal and particular corpus widely recognized throughout the world. For the Barcelona sculptor, art is a way of vindicating life and creation against death and destruction, stating that:

The decisive fact that shows us the profound reason why art exists is the consciousness that humans have of death. Art, by the timeless character of the work and by its metaphysical value, is the one that truly opposes death. The human being, in view of the tragic information that life has a limit, rebels and invents art to defend itself from despair, in a supreme effort to fight with honor in a battle lost beforehand.

Biography

Space-time measurement (1967), Mercuri Building in Barcelona.

Josep Maria Subirachs was born in the Barcelona neighborhood of Pueblo Nuevo, the son of Josep Subirachs Casanovas, a worker in a dye factory, and Josepa Sitjar Ferrer. From a humble family, he did not have the resources to dedicate himself to architecture, his greatest vocation since he was young, although as a sculptor he was very aware of the combination of his work within buildings or public spaces. However, his father encouraged his artistic vein, encouraging him in his drawings to capture different perspectives of reality, such as those made in negative or reverse, exercises that stimulate imagination and creativity.

At the age of fourteen he entered a gilder's workshop as an apprentice, where he had his first contact with artisan processes. Later he carried out various jobs, such as a decorator's apprentice, a retoucher in an imagery workshop, an antiques dealer, a mechanic, a lamp base caster and an advertising draftsman. Between 1942 and 1947 he was a disciple of the sculptor Enric Monjo, while attending classes drawing nights at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts. In 1947 he entered the workshop of Enric Casanovas, who, despite dying a few months later, had a powerful influence on the young sculptor, whom he introduced to the noucentista style that was fashionable at the time in the Catalan capital.

In 1948 he held his first individual exhibition at the Casa del Libro in Barcelona, presenting ten sculptures and six drawings. The following year he participated in the II October Salon in Barcelona, where he exhibited for several years in a row, until 1957. In 1950, together with the sculptors Francesc Torres Monsó and Martí Sabé, and the painters Esther Boix, Ricard Creus and Joaquim Datsira, he founded the Postectura group, which was presented with a manifesto and an exhibition at the Galeries Laietanes in Barcelona. the trend of humanization of current art having as a teacher or precursor the elemental constructive style that characterizes one of the artistic currents of our time derived from Cézanne».

In 1951 he obtained a scholarship from the Cercle Maillol of the French Institute of Barcelona to study in Paris, where he came into contact with the European avant-garde and was influenced by the English sculptor Henry Moore. In 1953 he was part of the organizing committee of the Associació d'Artistes Actuals (AAA), together with Enric Planasdurà, Antoni Tàpies, Joan-Josep Tharrats, Joan Fluvià and Alexandre Cirici i Pellicer. Invited by the Belgian artist Luc Peire, he settled for a time in Belgium (1954-1956), where he began his international fame, receiving numerous commissions from the collector Rémy Vanhoidsenhoven. It was then that he began to consider dedicating himself to sculpture professionally. In 1955 he married Cecília Burgaya Ibáñez in Brussels, and the following year his son Roger was born, who would dedicate himself to comics; in 1959 his daughter Judit was born, and in 1965 his son Daniel.

Set of altar, crucifix and sculpture by Santa Cecilia (at the bottom), of the church of Santa Cecilia in Barcelona (1964).

In 1956 he began his collaboration in the advertising agency Zen, founded and directed by Francesca Granados and Alexandre Cirici i Pellicer, where he received numerous commissions for companies and entities throughout Catalonia. Much of Subirachs' work is placed in public spaces, accessible to everyone, a personal preference of the artist, who often states that “art without a spectator has no raison d'etre. Art should be for everyone and, therefore, it is best if it is located in public spaces." In 1957 he received his first commission for a public work, Forma 212, located in the Hogares Mundet Barcelona, which was the first abstract work to be placed on public roads in Barcelona. This work was followed three years later by Evocation of the Sea, located in the Barceloneta neighborhood, which in its day caused some controversial due to its abstract forms —which the previous work did not have because it was located on the outskirts of the city. Later, between 1959 and 1961, he made the façade of the Virgen del Camino sanctuary in León, and since then he received numerous commissions for public places around the world.

In 1961 he began teaching at the Elisava School in Barcelona. Politically committed, in 1966 he made the commemorative medal of the Democratic Union of Students of the University of Barcelona, the proceeds of which were used to pay the fines imposed on the participants in the confinement in the convent of the Capuchins of Sarrià, known as the Capuchinada.

Espai Subirachs.

In 1980 he was elected academic of the sculpture section of the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of San Jorge. Since then he has received innumerable distinctions, including being considered the "Most Important Living Catalan Artist of the 20th Century", according to a popular survey carried out in 1997 by the newspaper La Vanguardia, Catalunya Ràdio and Enciclopèdia Catalana. He has also received, among other distinctions, the Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts awarded by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Creu de Sant Jordi from the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Medal Gold Award for Artistic Merit from the Barcelona City Council.

In 2001, Subirachs signed an agreement with the Caixa Penedès Foundation to set up a museum dedicated to the sculptor's work, to be called Espai Subirachs (Subirachs Space), to which he donated 137 representative works from his entire artistic career. However, in 2011 this entity announced that it could not meet the cost of said investment due to the economic crisis. Finally, the children of Subirachs took the initiative and rented a 300 m² in Pueblo Nuevo, the artist's hometown, with an exhibition of sculptures, paintings and drawings, as well as documentary material and a video projection of his career. The Espai Subirachs opened its doors on May 27, 2017.

Josep Maria Subirachs died in Barcelona on April 7, 2014, at the age of 87. Affected by Parkinson's, he had stopped working in 2010. According to the conseller of Culture of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Ferran Mascarell, «Subirachs is one of the great sculptors that Catalonia has had, highly recognized internationally, and represents a key figure in the Catalan artistic trajectory of the 20th century».

Work

Sculpture

Form 212 (1957), Casaes Mundet de Barcelona, the first abstract work placed on the public road of Barcelona.

Subirachs was initiated into the noucentisme by his teachers Monjo and Casanovas, a classicist style that advocated the predominance of harmony and balance in art, with a taste for Mediterranean themes and a special predilection for the female figure, where an aesthetic taste for the typical Catalan girl from La bien plantada by Eugenio d'Ors. His early works denote this influence, although with a personal style, more stylized and expressive than the realism of his teachers, which already pointed to the expressionism in which it would lead later. Even so, the taste for balance and simplicity, for conscientious work, that he acquired at this time will accompany him throughout his career. This first phase is usually called his "Mediterranean stage", represented by works such as Woman and Child (1947), Cadaqués (1947), Aurora (1947), Soledad (1948), Desire (1948), Dialogue (1949), Mediterranean Woman (1949), Voluptuousness (1950) or Reclining Nude (1950). Balance, proportion, serenity, curved shapes predominate in them, and denote the influence —in addition to their two teachers— of sculptors related to that Mediterranean feeling, such as Josep Clarà or Aristide Maillol.

His first works were in terracotta, due to the precariousness of his economic situation, but later he preferred to use iron (usually welded), bronze (cast with lost wax, and often retouched later with oxidation, burnishing or acid baths), aluminum, concrete or stone, in different varieties: granite, basalt, marble, travertine, calcareous stones, etc. Subirachs has always valued the stability, durability, immutability of his works and their survival in the time. For him, a work of art must be durable, which is why he uses resistant materials and looks for stable forms that suffer the logical erosion of time but do not disappear easily; as he himself says: "that the work becomes ruin, but not scrap." Another of the characteristics of his work is the frontality: he gives more importance to the front part of his work than to the rest, almost as if It was a painting, a curious circumstance for a sculptor but one that he prefers to maintain a unique or privileged point of view for the viewer, taking into account that on many occasions the symbolic character and the complex iconographic program that Subirachs develops in his works requires a narrative key reading of the work.

Tables of the Law (1959), Faculty of Law of Barcelona.

In the 1950s it evolved towards expressionism, stylizing the form through the distortion of the proportions and the incorporation of angular surfaces, as well as an unfinished treatment of the matter, with rough and rough surfaces, which give a greater expressive feeling. Its somewhat hieratic forms are reminiscent of Egyptian statuary, while the treatment given to the female figure, where a bulging belly stands out, refers to prehistoric steatopygic Venus. At this time it was influenced by sculptors such as Leandre Cristòfol, Ángel Ferrant or Eudald Serra, who before the Civil War had entered the field of avant-garde, a process that was cut short by the war. He also deeply admires the work of Antoni Gaudí, whom he considers a great innovator not only of architecture, but of the plastic arts in general, and whose tendency towards shapes based on ruled geometry influences the sculptor; as well as Orson Welles, whose cinema suggested new forms of artistic expression. Examples of this stage would be Piety (1951), Maternity (1952), Europa (1953), Yerma (1953), The Family (1953), Woman in Front of the Sea (1953), Moses (1953), Mannequin-idol (1954), Despair (1954) or The Fates (1954). The end of this period coincides with his stay in Belgium (1954-1956), where the stylization of the figures already points to abstraction: Putiphar's wife (1954), Oedipus and Antigone (1955), Ammon (1955), Icarus (1955), Woman on the Beach (1956). In the following years, the presence of the human figure will occur only in religious works, such as Ecce Homo (1957), Sitting Virgin (1958), Noah (1960), San Pablo (1960), the altar, crucifix and ambos of the Hogares Mundet church, and the great commission for the Santuario de la Virgen del Camino (1958-1961).

Tribute to Barcelona (1968), Montjuic, Barcelona.

Between 1957 and 1961 he delved into pure abstraction, while he experimented more with textures, especially —in parallel with the matter painting practiced at the time— with the grattage technique, which he created rough and unfinished surfaces. At that time he was influenced by avant-garde sculptors such as Julio González or Pablo Gargallo. At that time, he preferably used iron, which worked with industrial techniques such as welding, in pieces that used to include elements such as screws, bars and plates, or beams, plates and industrial waste elements, but he also used other materials, such as wood, terracotta, stoneware, ceramics, bronze or concrete, in which he shows the same interest in textures. In terms of shapes, he regularly used the line and the plane, the horizontal-vertical opposition, as in Cathedral (1958), for which he received the Sant Jordi Prize from the Barcelona Provincial Council. Another important The work of this stage is Las Tablas de la Ley (1959, in collaboration with Antoni Cumella), at the Faculty of Law of the University of Barcelona, a relief worked in positive-negative opposition —which will be recurrent in his work—, and where he introduced signs of communication for the first time (in this case some Roman numerals that represent the numbers that head the legal text of Moses), another of the constants in his work. Other works from this period are: Forma 212 (1957), The Siren (1957), Homage to Gaudí (1957), Tekel (1958), Tribute to the cinema (1958), Intimacy of Form (1958), Vertical (1959), Sailor's Evocation (1960), Double Shape (1961), Vertical Lost Wax (1962), Bigornia (1964) or The Plumb Line (1964).

Marine evocation (1960), Juan de Borbón walk, Barcelona.

Later, in the early 1960s, he developed the stage called "penetrations and tensions" —according to the name of José Corredor Matheos—, characterized by the use of wedges fitted with screws and iron straps, or tensioned pieces with cables or ropes, in assemblies that played with matter and space, with opposing elements such as matter and form, gravitation and counterweight, empty and full, horizontal and vertical. Examples of this stage are: Introversión (1960), Monumento transportable (1961), Colmenar (1961), the Cruz de San Miguel in Montserrat (1962), Gravitation (1962), Pyramids (1962), the Monument to the victims of the Vallés floods (1963), Polimateria (1964), Stability (1964), Polifemo (1964), the Monument to Pompeu Fabra in Planolas (1965) or the Homage to Barcelona on Montjuïc mountain (1968). One of his last works in this sense was the Monument to the Olympics in Mexico (1968), located on the so-called Friendship Route made for the Cultural Olympics that took place in parallel to the sports ones; These are two wedge-shaped pyramids facing each other and joined by a crossbar in the central part, a concrete work measuring 950 x 1070 x 410 cm and weighing 160 t, with symbolism related to the history of Mexico: the lower pyramid represents pre-Columbian Mexico, while the upper one alludes to Hispanic American culture and in the central part the Olympic rings are combined with the letters that make up the word Mexico.

Around 1965 Subirachs returned to figuration due to its greater expressive and communicative possibilities, although it would never be a realistic figuration, but rather stylized and expressionist, emphasizing especially the symbolic component of the form and pretending to transcend reality, not imitate it. According to the artist, "I believed that abstraction was the most useful language for artists, especially in our century, but later I realized that I couldn't reach everyone that way. Abstraction is a language that is too cryptic, too elitist, and what I wanted was to facilitate dialogue, for this reason I opted for a new figuration, which had nothing to do with that of the first stage". This new stage, Called by Corredor Matheos de la Nueva Realidad Figurada, it began with two highly relevant exhibitions: the one held at the Ateneo de Madrid (1966) and at the Sala Gaspar in Barcelona (1967).

The images of the artists of the new figuration are employed in the same way that abstract artists use the forms: transformed into signs; therefore abstract art represents nothing but means. Thus, the new figuration does not represent anything, but it does mean, and therefore I am pleased to call it a significant figuration.

Subirachs, L'artista de la segona meitat del segle XX, in Qüestions d'ArtNot 1, Barcelona, 1967.

The architect (Monumento to the builders of the Cathedral of Gerona) (1986), in the Jewish quarter of that city.

In this new stage, some of the main iconographic elements that characterize Subirachs' work emerge and that would be constant in all his subsequent production, such as the labyrinth, the stairs, the pyramid, the skull, the tower of Babel, the obelisk phallic, the pubic tree, the Möbius strip, etc. Another of its main characteristics would be the confrontation of dualities, the opposition of elements that oppose but complement each other: horizontal-vertical, full-empty, positive-negative, concave- convex, masculine-feminine, space-time, matter-form, life-death, night-day, alpha-omega, etc. At the same time, it incorporates elements of architectural language, such as moldings and castings, or with the inclusion of references mythological or classical elements such as capitals, caryatids, niches, balustrades (which he considers an androgynous symbol), draping, etc. Sometimes there is a tendency to move a figure in the form of a molding in running lines to one side, which is abruptly interrupted by chipping of the stone. He also recovers formats such as the diptych or the triptych, generally joined by hinges, as in his Self-portrait from 1966. As for shapes, he prefers simple geometric shapes, such as circles, squares, triangles, spheres, etc. The human figure is treated in an architectural way, integrated into the space that surrounds it, generally in relief, not in a round shape, in casts or in positive-negative games, being impersonal figures, without remarkable features, sometimes showing the sexual organs.. He is also more interested in color, giving his works a more polychrome appearance, as well as time, with surfaces worked as if a long period of time had already elapsed. In the mid-1970s He also introduced a new iconographic repertoire from the Renaissance and the Baroque, through tributes or allusions to artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Dürer, Bernini or Rembrandt.

San Francisco and Bernat Metge, pantheon de Francesc Cambó, cemetery of Montjuic (1977).

One of the first works in this sense was the Monument to Narcís Monturiol (1963), which incorporates a replica of the Ictíneo (1:7 scale), the submarine created by the Catalan inventor. In 1966 he was commissioned to create some reliefs for the façade of the new Barcelona City Hall building, where he developed a program related to the history of the city. Other works in this style include: The measure of space-time (1967), Venus de Peñíscola (1967), Homage to Leonardo (1968 -1972), Metaphysical Figure (1968), The Sphinx (1969), Santa Ágata (1969), Man and Woman (1969), Goddess (1971), Genesis (1972), Introversion (1973), To Roman Barcelona (1975), Gala Placidia (1975), the Saint George Gate in the Palau del Lloctinent (1975), the relief of Saint George -Theseus in the Palace of the Generalitat of Catalonia (1976), Babel (1977), the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in Montserrat (1977), Galatea (1978), Communication (1983), Matter-Form (1984), Saint George of Montserrat (1986), The architect (Monument to the builders of the Cathedral of Girona) (1986), etc. A curious detail was his intervention in the design of the installations of tigers and lions in the Madrid Zoo (1970). It should be noted that since 1966 he began a fruitful relationship with the General Óptica entity, for which he carried out various works —including sculptures, reliefs, graphics and murals— in 21 establishments of this chain in cities throughout Spain, where he developed a wide variety of content. themes, from the GO anagram present on all store door handles, through its usual iconographic repertoire —including eyes, as it couldn't be less in this type of establishment— to specific themes depending on the location, such as Ramon Llull in Palma of Mallorca, a Homage to Goya in Zaragoza, Las Meninas in Madrid, an allusion to the Roman city of Tarraco in Tarragona, a bull in Pamplona, etc.

Sometimes, he makes works that combine sculpture and painting, combining panels that are usually made of bronze and painted wood, generally in oil, with a type of smooth paint, with soft colors and an almost Renaissance appearance, where he has Of particular relevance is the drawing, with well-defined contours (Loundun, 1971; Mona Lisa 820, 1976; Moebius, 1977; Leda, 1977; The tree, 1978; Núria-Fedra, 1979). bronze»—, made mainly between 1982 and 1983, and which denote a certain surrealist inspiration, as they recall works by Magritte or De Chirico (Dos figuras, 1982; Del Giocondo, 1982; Agnès Sorel, 1983; The Bathtub, 1983). a somewhat mannerist canon (Maternidad, 1979; La esfinge, 1980; Dafne 81, 1981; Europa, 1984) It does not contain game, fruit or flowers, as in the traditional genre, but various objects taken from its peculiar iconography, arranged on pedestals like a table (El pedestal, 1985; Naturaleza muerta 1025, 1985; A Giorgio Morandi, 1985; Workshop Corner, 1986; Pyramids, 1986).

Monument to Francesc Macià (1991), Plaza de Catalunya de Barcelona. The pedestal represents the history of Catalonia, while the inverted and unfinished staircase symbolizes the future of the country, which is built day by day, peel by step.

In 1986, upon receiving the commission for the Passion Facade of the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Família, he began a new stage in which he recovered two of the previously practiced styles, expressionism and metaphysical abstraction, stating that «the characteristic The most outstanding feature of this new path, which has just begun, is that it constitutes a synthesis of my previous stages, which accentuates one of the particularities of my sculpture and the confirmation of a certain eclecticism". The first is developed in the passionate cycle of the Gaudinian temple, since it is more convenient to emphasize the pathos of the subject, while the second develops it in a parallel way to his work on the temple, in works where the geometric shape and a language of architectural references predominate, in works such as: To Imhotep (1989), The Wall (1991), Champollion (1993), Pinnacle (1994), Foundations (1994), A Djeser (1999) or Arc de Triomphe (2000).

Monument to Macià (1983), Villanueva and Geltrú.

Another of the characteristics in Subirachs' work has been the identity claim, the evocation of the history and culture of Catalonia, which he has constantly recreated in his work, since according to his statements «I would like to be an artist who helps create the identity symbols of my country". Thus, his work abounds in monuments of a nationalist nature, such as the Homage to the Catalan Resistance (1981), the Monument to the Restoration of the Government of Catalonia (1982), the Monument to the millennium of Catalonia (1990), those made in homage to various Catalan towns (Barcelona, Manresa, Hospitalet de Llobregat), or Catalan personalities: Pompeu Fabra, Ramon Llull, Borrell II, Pau Casals, Salvador Espriu, Francesc Macià, Lluís Companys, Josep Irla, Josep Tarradellas, etc. In this sense, the figure of Saint George, patron saint of Catalonia, to whom the artist has represented on numerous occasions, from the individual figures located at the headquarters of the Caixa d'Estalvis de Catalunya in Barcelona, in the Monastery of Montserrat or the temple of the Sagrada Familia, to their presence in scenes and reliefs of more diverse theme, as in the Saint George-Theseus in the loggia of the Palace of the Generalitat, the door of the sacristy of the chapel of Saint George in the same palace, the door of Saint George in the Palacio del Lloctinent in Barcelona, or the frieze of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in Montserrat.

Likewise, another of the constants in the sculptor's work is the presence of letters and numbers, as symbols of communication and intellectual progress. Throughout his work he has used various typefaces, and on numerous occasions he has given the letters a geometric shape, such as cubes or spheres, or he has represented them as pyramids or stairs. On other occasions he has created anagrams, such as the one created for Parkings de Barcelona (1967), which alternates P and B in a simple but original way, or the G and O-shaped handrails for General Óptica (1966). Works where letters or numbers appear are: Las Tablas de la Ley (1959), Tele-eXprés (1966), Comunicación y Computación (1971), the frieze on the façade of Sants Station (1979), To the members and supporters clubs of Barça (1999), Hotel (2002), Estela (2003), and the bronze doors of the Sagrada Familia temple (1987-2010).

Other facets

Diagonal (1969), mural for the homonymous station of Barcelona Metro.

In addition to sculpture, Subirachs sporadically cultivated painting, generally in the same line of magical realism that he practiced with his neofigurative sculpture, where iconographic elements abound such as labyrinths, Babel towers, classical and mythological references and, as it could not be otherwise, the human figure, with a preference for the feminine, generally with sexual connotations. His first works in this sense were in the 1970s, generally done in oil on canvas, highlighting the quality of the drawing and the neatness of the brushwork: Torso (1973), The tree (1974), The obelisk (1974), The dome (1974). In the 1980s and 1990s he continued along the same lines: The Labyrinth (1988), Disfrutar Gaudí (1988), Cerebral (1997), Dánae (1998), Classical (1998). Since 2004 he devoted himself more preferably to painting, varying the technique, which is usually acrylic painting: Dédalo (2004), Tercer millennium (2004), Imhotep (2005), Melancholy (2005), Memory of 66 (2006), Eight Steps II (2007), The War of the Worlds (2008), The Glories (2009).

His work as an engraver was also extensive —at first sporadically, and regularly since 1970—, a facet where he preferably used techniques such as etching, drypoint, screen printing, and lithography, with designs that he generally transcribes to graphic arts his peculiar iconographic world: Viceversa (1970), Fragmento de infinito II (1972), El rapto de Europa (1974), Adán, Homage to Michelangelo (1975), Homage to Damià Campeny (1977), To Fortuny and Gaudí (1979), The rain (1980), Barcelona II (1985), Sagrada Familia (1987), Dánae (1988), Barcelona'92 (1989), Ramon Llull's Staircase (1990), Paulina Borghese (1992), The Trojan Horse (1996), Montserrat (2001), Saint George and the Princess (2005), Tirant lo Blanc (2007), etc..

Equally abundant was his production as a draftsman, generally in preparatory sketches for his sculptures, but also individual drawings and his own design, with special relevance in the field of book illustration —where he combined drawing and engraving—, as: Approach to three sculptures by Subirachs by Salvador Espriu (1960), Poemes de Kavafis by Carles Riba (1962), Obra poética by Salvador Espriu (1963), La pneumologia a Catalunya i els seus homes by Josep M. Cornudella (1975), Néixer de nou, cada día by Robert Saladrigas (1979), D'una vella i encerclada terra by Salvador Espriu (1980), Album workshop by Camilo José Cela (1981), Poemes. Drawings by Salvador Espriu and Subirachs (1984), The Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire (1985), Narcís by Paul Valéry (1986), Epinicis by Pindar (1987), Punica Barcino by Francesco Giunta (1988), The Tower of Babel and other texts by Subirachs (1989), The ingenious hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes (1990), XXV odes to Horacio by Enrique Badosa (1992), The chasm of penultimate innocence by Camilo José Cela (1993), etc.

Another facet widely developed by the artist was the design of medals, generally in copper, bronze, gold or silver, in collaboration with various medal minting companies: from 1956 to 1966 he worked with Isidre Cistaré, on medals such as those made for Hogares Mundet (1957), the terracotta medallion for the Associació d'Artistes Actuals (1957, the first medal made in abstract art in Barcelona), the one for the Passion of Cervera (1958) or the plaque of the FAD Prize for Architecture and Interior Design (1958); from 1966 to 1970 he collaborated with Manuel Parellada, founder of Llissá de Munt with whom he regularly collaborated on his bronze sculptures, highlighting the commemorative medal of the Democratic Union of Students of the University of Barcelona (1966) and the one of the Mercuri Building (1967).; from 1970 to 1984 he minted medals at the Vallmitjana Workshops (Institut d'Investigació Tèxtil de Terrassa, 1971; Seda de Barcelona, 1975; Fiftyth Anniversary of Miguel Ángel, 1975; Centro Excursionista de Catalunya, 1976; Jaime I, 1976; Homage to Salvador Espriu, 1978; Medal of Honor from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, 1979; To Kavafis, 1983); and since 1984 he has collaborated with Miquel Pelegrín, with examples such as the Olympia Prize for Philately (1984), Homage to Xavier Benguerel (1985), Centenary of Narcís Monturiol (1985), II International Congress of the Catalan Language (1986), Gaudí (1987), Thousandth Anniversary of Catalonia (1988), Centenary of the Bases de Manresa (1992), San Longino y Criptograma (1994), VI Bienal Internacional Esportistes en l'Art (1996), Guifré I el Pilós (1997), Unió de Federacions Esportives de Catalunya (1999), Towards infinity (2004), Centenary of the Institute of Catalan Studies (2007), etc.

Relieves of the Banco de Sabadell (1971), Barcelona.

Subirachs also cultivated other genres such as tapestry and poster, the first designing cardboards for making these fabrics, generally made at Tapices Aymat, the house run by Josep Grau-Garriga, the great innovator of contemporary tapestry: Barcelona (1961), Catalonia and the Balearic Islands (1962), Head, Heart, Flesh (1965), Central Point (1965), From the point (1967), Creation (1987), Éboli (1988); and the second in posters for exhibitions or for various events, congresses or conferences: Œuvres de Subirachs (1954), Subirachs (1962), Subirachs. Schetsen + Sculpturen (1974), Subirachs, graphic works (1975), Record del Saló d'Octubre (1975), Subirachs sculptures, drawings and graphic works (1981), 5th Cava Week (1986), 135th Candelera Fair (1986), XIe Congrès Internationel des Néo-Hellénistes Francophones (1987), Fifth Conference of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine (1998), XVIII Cava Week (1999), Spain 2000 Cycling Tour (2000), XVII Congrés d'Història de la Corona d'Aragó. The urban world of 1137 at the decrees of Nova Planta (2000).

In terms of set design, his works include: La pell de brau, by Salvador Espriu, represented in the Dome of the Coliseum, home of the ephemeral Museu d'Art Contemporani created by Alexandre Cirici Pellicer (1960); Primera Història d'Esther, by Salvador Espriu, directed by Ricard Salvat at the Teatro Romea in Barcelona (1962) and at the Teatro Banderas in Bilbao (1968); Èdip rei, by Sophocles, represented at the Teatre Grec in Barcelona by the Companyia de Teatre La Roda (1977); Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett, directed by Vicente Sáinz de la Peña, María Paz Ballesteros Company of Madrid (1978); Les Bacants, by Euripides, directed by Ricard Salvat (1980); the ballet Phèdre, acte II, scène 5, with choreography by Alain Marty, Opéra Comique de Paris (1981); Cavalls de mar , by Josep Lluís and Rodolf Sirera, directed by Josep Maria Flotats and Ignasi Camprodon, Poliorama Theater in Barcelona (1992).

Finally, as art critic and theoretician Subirachs developed a theory of art (mainly in L'art, per què? , 1985) that is based on four fundamental factors: its quality expressive and communicative ("all my work tends to communicate with others, to be both a consequence of the society in which I live and to address it"), its historicity ("without the presence of time, art would have no raison d'être"), his opposition to nature ("man makes gardens instead of jungles, statues instead of stones, and pyramids instead of mountains") and his conversion of instincts into eroticism ("art is eroticism"). of history"). He has also always highlighted three fundamental qualities that every artist must have: contemporaneity, intentionality and creativity. In addition, he has written various essays (Quadern de taller 1954-1987, 1987; The Tower of Babel and other texts, 1989; Art, this essential uselessness, 1992; The durability of form, 2002), texts for catalogs (El que estàs fent, fes-ho de pressa, for the exhibition Dibuixos per a la Sagrada Família, 1991), conferences (Six thoughts on the sculpture, admission speech at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi, 1982; Art and sport, 1989; Gaudí, Welles, Steinberg, admission speech at the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts, 1990) and articles for publications such as Templo, El Correo Catalán, Avui, La Vanguardia, Serra d'Or, Made in Catalunya, The Observer, etc.

Sanctuary of the Virgen del Camino

Facade of the sanctuary of the Virgin of the Way.

In 1957, he won a competition for the commission for the sculptural decoration of the sanctuary of the Virgen del Camino in León, which culminated in 1961. It was one of his greatest works of youth, and began the path of a long series of public commissions for numerous Spanish cities and the rest of the world. For this temple he made the monumental façade with the figures of the Apostles, as well as four doors, an altar on the outer esplanade and various elements of the interior, such as the tabernacle, crucifixes, chandeliers, ambos, lamps and the baptismal font. This work marked the culmination of the sculptor's expressionist stage, which was later framed in a purer abstraction.

On the façade there is a large frieze with thirteen figures (the Virgin and the twelve Apostles), six meters high and made of bronze. From left to right are: Saint Matthias —who replaces Judas Iscariot as apostle—, with a stone in his hands, since he was stoned, and a scar on his neck, alluding to his beheading; Saint Philip, with a cross —symbol of his martyrdom— on his chest, and some fish in his left hand, alluding to the miracle of multiplication; Saint Matthew, who as an evangelist shows a book in his hands; Saint Thomas, the incredulous apostle, is looking at the sky, while in his hand he holds a spear, a symbol of his corroborated faith after touching the wounds of Christ; Santiago el Mayor appears full of shells, a symbol of pilgrimage, and with his right hand he points to the Camino de Santiago; Saint John guards the chalice of the Last Supper; in the center, Mary is shown after her Assumption and Coronation; Saint Peter offers with his hands the papal blessing, and figures with the keys of heaven, the great inverted cross on which he was crucified and the ear that he cut off Malco in the Garden of Gethsemane; Saint Andrew adopts with his arms the shape of a cross in an X, exemplifying his martyrdom; Saint Bartholomew presents a knife in his hands, since he was skinned; Saint James the Less, who was Bishop of Jerusalem, shows the attributes of his dignity: miter, staff and ring; San Judas Tadeo shows in his right hand the ax of his beheading and in his left a canonical letter; Lastly, Saint Simon appears leaning on a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom. On these figures there are tongues of fire, symbolizing Pentecost, while the stained glass windows in the background are the work of Albert Ràfols Casamada.

Another outstanding element in the Subaraquian work in León are the doors, made of bronze: the main one measures three meters high by five meters wide, and it represents the mysteries of Gozo de la Virgen (Annunciation, Visitation, Birth of Jesus, Presentation in the Temple and Jesus before the Doctors of the Law), together with references to the Old and New Testaments and the phrase Ora pro nobis insistently engraved on the entire surface of the door; Puerta de San Froilán (south façade) is dedicated to the patron saint of the diocese of León, and contains scenes from his life, together with the plan of the León cathedral; the Pastor's door is located on the right side, giving access to the Camarín de la Virgen, and it represents the apparition of the Virgen del Camino to the pastor Alvar Simón Fernández, as well as an inscription that relates the legend; and the door of San Pablo, located in the northern part, is dedicated to the apostle who preached to the Gentiles, in a nod to the patron of the sanctuary, Pablo Díez, with the effigy of the saint, who holds a sword and a book, and a quote from the First Epistle to the Corinthians (1Co, 13:1).

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  The apostles Matthias, Philip and Matthew.

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  Tomás, Santiago el Mayor and Juan.

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  Pedro, Andrés and Bartolomé.

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  Santiago el Menor, Judas Tadeo and Simon.

Montserrat Monastery

Monument to Ramon Llull (1976).

Over the years Subirachs carried out various works for the Monastery of Montserrat, located in various emblematic places of its ecclesiastical premises: the first was the Cruz de San Miguel (1962), located in the Plaza de la Santa Cruz, next to the rack railway station; It is made of bronze, travertine and stone from Sant Vicenç (530 cm high), and belongs to his period "of penetrations and tensions", for which he makes a cross through a wedge inserted into the stone that makes up the monolith. The inscription Sant Miquel appears on the base, along with the phrase "who is like God" written in various languages.

She was followed by the effigy of Santo Domingo de Guzmán (1970), on the way to the Holy Cave. It is made of travertine, 3 meters high, made in eight blocks that take the shape of a totemic-looking monolith, in which only the face and hands of the saint are visible, in addition to the beads and the cross of a rosary on the side. On the base is the inscription "Domingo de Guzmán, 1170-1970".

In 1976 he created the Monument to Ramon Llull, located on an esplanade under the Plaza de los Apóstoles, in a place open to a wide and impressive panorama. It is made of concrete, 870 cm high, and is made of nine parallelepiped pieces in the form of ascending steps, which open up like a fan, and which represent the Stairway of Understanding devised by the Mallorcan blessed: stone, flame, plant, beast, man, heaven, angel, God; all the steps are irregular in shape except the last one, which is a perfect cube, as it represents God.

The following year he was commissioned to decorate one of the interior chapels of the Montserrat basilica, the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, located in an austere and intimate space that invites reflection. Subirachs' intervention focused on a set of altar, tabernacle and altarpiece made of concrete, sober and austere, where only a femur (symbol of death) appears on the front of the altar and the negative figure of Christ on the altarpiece, of which only the face, hands and feet are visible, as well as the sores he received on Calvary, which are simple incisions in the concrete; this figure is illuminated with a powerful light source that contrasts with the surrounding darkness, creating a powerful expressive effect. On the doors of the chapel he also made two friezes that serve as handrails, made in bronze, measuring 40 x 430 x 12 cm: the one on the left shows the staircase of understanding as he did it in the Monument to Ramon Llull, next to the profile of the Montserrat mountain, a rainbow as a union between the human and the the divine, Saint George defeating the dragon and the princess; in the one on the right you can see a labyrinth (Earth), the sun setting (freedom in decline), a skull (death) and the tower of Babel (chaos and lack of communication). Thus, the elements of good are opposed to those of evil, life to death, achieving a balance accentuated by the preparation of the frieze in high and bas-relief, in positive and negative. In the central part, occupying the last panel of the left and the first on the right, a text by Salvador Espriu appears, the Prayer to Lord Saint George: «Lord Saint George, patron saint, gentleman without fear, always keep us from the crime of the Civil War, free us from our sins of greed and envy, from the dragon, from anger and hatred between brothers, from any other evil, help us to deserve peace, and save the speech of the Catalan people, amen".

Later, he made the statue of Saint George (1986), in travertine, 2 m high, located in a niche on the Cuesta de Nuestra Señora that precedes the central square in front of the monastery. It appears full-length with a shield on the left side, with a game of volumes that alternates high and bas-relief: the head and torso appear in negative, while the arms, legs, and shield appear in positive. One of the most distinctive features of this figure are the eyes, which seem to follow you as you move in front of this statue.

In 2001 he made the image of Our Lady of Montserrat, kept in the Monastery Museum, made of polychrome wood (70 x 25 x 25 cm). It is a version of the famous medieval carving of the Virgin of Montserrat reinterpreted from a modern perspective, with certain cubist reminiscences.

Finally, in 2013 the relief Ariadna and Hermes, original from 1985, made for Banco de Sabadell and Originally located at the headquarters of this institution on Paseo de Gracia in Barcelona. In 2013 the bank donated the work to the monastery. The set presents two reliefs, made of travertine and measuring 2.25 x 2.10 meters. The first is dedicated to Ariadne, as the personification of life, love and art; there is an effigy of the mythological heroine next to a labyrinth, the Sun as a symbol of freedom and some architectures that indicate the historical evolution. The second is starred by Hermes, as a symbol of the union between the divine and human sciences, and is represented by a modulated female figure as an expression of harmony and proportion, a water tower —the one in Pueblo Nuevo, the neighborhood where the artist— as a symbol of the mastery of nature through human ingenuity, a rainbow and two entwined serpents, as a means of communication between men and the gods.

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  Cruz de San Miguel (1962).

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  Santo Domingo (1970).

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  Ariadna and Hermes (1985).

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  San Jorge (1986).

Barcelona City Hall

Matter-Forma (1982-1984).

In 1966 Subirachs was commissioned to create some reliefs for the new façade of the Barcelona City Hall (Newest building) in Plaça de Sant Miquel. For the main building, he designed some panels with the Barcelona shield in twelve different designs, made of aluminum with measurements of 185 x 124 cm each shield. In 2001 some of these soffits were removed to demolish the last four floors of the building, due to a new regulation on the height of buildings in the Gothic Quarter district, which were auctioned and the collection destined for the urbanization of Fossar de les Moreres..

On the other hand, on the ground floor of the building he placed a frieze called Barcelona Frieze, measuring 256 x 4500 cm and made of concrete. It is in an abstract geometric style, with various inscriptions and figurative and symbolic elements, as usual in the sculptor's work, and with a theme that can be read from left to right, as in Trajan's Column, which inspired the artist: the beginning is Aristotle's hylemorphist theory (matter and form); then there is an allusion to Gala Placidia, who represents Roman and Visigothic Barcelona, while symbolizing politics; later there are the Tables of the Law, which prefigure the Jewish Barcelona and the law; the subsequent representation is that of the County of Barcelona, with the arms of the city and the origin of the Catalan language, followed by Saint Michael, by the square where the Novísimo building is located; then comes Santa Eulalia, patron saint of Barcelona; then appear various elements that symbolize letters (the Ode to Barcelona by Jacinto Verdaguer), the arts (a female figure), science and philosophy (Ramon Llull medallion), commerce (a currency) and industry (a cogwheel), next to the word Barcelona; In the central part is the sun (which is a clock) and various phases of the moon, and the frieze ends with a map of the Barcelona Ensanche and other parts of the city, such as the old town, the port or the Montjuic mountain., while a needle points north as a symbol of the city's European vocation.

In the inner courtyard of the Casa de la Ciudad there is also the sculpture Matter-Form (1982-1984), made of travertine on a limestone base, with dimensions of 1.67 x 1.20 x 0.30 m. It represents Adam and Eve, of which only half a torso appears on each side of the work, joined by a continuous frieze, and is framed in the frequent contrast of pairs facing each other (man-woman, space-time, life-death) constant in the artist's work, concepts that oppose but also complement each other, that would not exist without each other.

Friso Barcelona

Palau del Lloctinent

Puerta de San Jorge (1975).

In 1975 he made the Puerta de San Jorge for the Palau del Lloctinent (home of the Archive of the Crown of Aragon), which connects this palace with the Tinell Room of the Royal Palace of Barcelona. It is a two-leaf bronze door, measuring 345 x 210 cm, presided over by the figure of the patron saint of Catalonia who defeats the dragon located at its feet, while next to it appears the princess whom save. The saint appears at the confluence of a line of vertical and horizontal panels, forming a cross that, however, is not uniform nor is it located in the center of the door, but rather is displaced to the lower left. The rest of the representation shows a series of symbols related to the history of the Crown of Aragon, such as the coats of arms of Catalonia, Aragon, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Sicily, the primitive coat of arms of Aragon, the cross of Saint George, an image of the city of Palma de Mallorca in the time of James I and a map of the Mediterranean that alludes to the territorial expansion of this kingdom during the Middle Ages. In addition to these images, there are various phrases written in Latin, Catalan and Aragonese, from the Llibre dels feits (a chronicle about Jaime I), from San Juan de la Peña's chronicle about Saint George, and from a letter from James II to Pope Clement V in response to a request from the pontiff to start a crusade in the Holy Land. The names of Catalan historical figures also appear, as well as those of the authors (sculptor and founder, in this case Manuel Parellada) and the date of its inauguration. On the other hand, the artist left his own mark in gold, next to the doorknob that represents the coat of arms of Barcelona. Lastly, one of the ceiling lights is a scale plan of the door itself, a curious self-representation detail.

Palace of the Generalitat

Relieve de San Jorge-Teseo (1976).

At the headquarters of the Catalan regional government, Subirachs carried out various works: in 1976 he designed the door for the sacristy of the chapel of Saint George, as well as the Relief of Saint George-Theseus in the gallery that it joins the Palace of the Generalitat with the House of the Canons. The sacristy door is made of bronze, measuring 233 x 101 x 12 cm. It consists of the cross of Saint George, together with the four bars of the coat of arms of Catalonia, as well as the floor plan of the Barcelona cathedral and some chains that symbolize slavery. The Relief of Saint George-Theseus consists of two travertine stone panels, with a total measurement of 380 x 480 x 30 cm. Here the artist developed an iconographic program that equated the Christian legend of the Cappadocian saint with the Greek myth of the Labyrinth of Crete, where Saint George is equated with Theseus, the dragon with the Minotaur, and the princess with Ariadne. In addition, he placed various elements of his figurative repertoire, placed in opposition as usual in his work: the sun as a symbol of freedom, opposed to the moon —shaped like a labyrinth—, which represents loneliness; a balustrade, as a materialization of art, set against a skull, a clear allusion to death. Finally, in the background of these scenes, the profile of the Montserrat mountain can be glimpsed. On the other hand, on the door that communicates with the Casa de los Canónigos, he made a 21 x 22 x 4 cm bronze handle with a handprint and the inscription «Jaime I, 1276-1976».

For the Generalitat, he also produced four busts with the portraits of the presidents of this institution from the Second Republic to the democratic restoration, located in the Patio de los Naranjos of the Generalitat palace: Francesc Macià (1984, bronze, 60 x 27 x 32 cm), Lluís Companys (1990, bronze, 58 x 24 x 30 cm), Josep Irla (2001, bronze, 54 x 24 x 27 cm) and Josep Tarradellas (1999, bronze, 57 x 26 x 30 cm).

Holy Family

Passion of the Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family (1987-2009).

Subirachs' magna opera was the sculptural decoration of the Passion Facade of the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which he carried out between 1987 and 2009. For this work he lived and worked for a time in a modest house located inside the Sagrada Familia temple itself, in the image and likeness of his idol, Antoni Gaudí. In carrying out this work he had the collaboration of his assistants Ramon Millet and Bruno Gallart.

In this work Subirachs recovered his expressionist style of the 1950s, to emphasize the expressive character of the figures and the pathos of the subject. However, his work in the Gaudinian temple was highly criticized for its contemporary style, which broke with the more realistic style in which it had been developed up to then —especially the Nativity Façade. In 1990 there was even a demonstration in front of the Sagrada Familia against his intervention in it. However, over time part of the Barcelona public has come to accept this work, which despite everything does not break with the spirit that Gaudí had thought for this façade:

Someone will find this door too extravagant; but I would want it to be afraid, and to get it, I will not save the clearing, the incoming and outgoing motives, all that results from more teasing effect. Moreover, I am willing to sacrifice the same construction, to break arches and to cut columns to give an idea of the crucified Sacrifice.

The crucifixion.

Dedicated to the Passion of Jesus, this façade aims to reflect the suffering of Christ in his crucifixion, as redemption for man's sins. For this reason, Gaudí conceived a more austere and simplified façade, without ornamentation, where the nakedness of the stone stands out, resembling a skeleton reduced to the simple lines of its bones. In this sense, Subirachs devised a simple and schematic set, with angular shapes that cause a greater dramatic effect. The sculptural cycle of the Passion is installed on three levels, following an ascending order in the shape of an S, to reproduce the Calvary of Jesus:

• Lower level: contains the scenes of the last night of Jesus before the crucifixion. Last Supper He presents Jesus with the twelve apostles, at the time Judas will betray him. Peter and soldiers is the time when Peter cuts the ear to Malchus, the servant of the High Priest. In The kiss of Judas the figures are coarsely carved to suggest a night vision; behind Judas stands the serpent symbolizing the demon. The denial of Peter It contains three figures of woman who represent the three times Peter denied Jesus. In Ecce Homo Jesus is presented with the crown of thorns, guarded by two soldiers and with the figure of a doubtful Pilate to what he should do. The last scene of this level is The Judgment of JesusPilate washes his hands.

• Average level: represents the Calvary of Jesus. It appears in the first place The Three Marys and Simon of Cyrenein which he helps with the cross Jesus, surrounded by the Virgin, Mary Magdalene and Mary of Cleopas. The Veronica shows the face of Jesus marked negatively on the fabric of the woman who cleaned the sweat; the figure of Veronica has no face to not interfere with the image of Jesus. Here Subirachs pays tribute to Gaudí, giving his physiognomy to the figure of the evangelist located on the left, as well as in the shape of the helmets of the soldiers, which evoke the chimneys of the Casa Milà. Close the cycle Private Longinowho nailed his spear to Jesus though then turned to Christianity.

• Upper level: the death and burial of Jesus appears. Start level with Soldiers playing dice the garments of Jesus. The crucifixion It is the main scene of the porch, with Jesus hanging on the cross—which is four-armed, like the typically gaudinianas, but placed horizontally—which is made of iron, with an I painted in red on the central beam, symbol of INRI; the three Marys and St.John appear again, and there is also a skull, symbol of death (and of Golgotha), and a moon, which represents the night. The veil torn It is a bronze structure that represents the veil of the Temple of Jerusalem, which was torn to the death of Jesus. Finally, in The burial There are Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus depositing the body of Jesus in the tomb, together with the Virgin Mary and an egg symbol of the resurrection; the effigy of Nicodemus is a self-portrait of the Subirachs sculptor.

Door of the Crowning of Thorns.

Gethsemane Gate.

In addition to these sculptural cycles, Subirachs also made the bronze doors of the three porticos into which the façade is divided, dedicated to Faith, Hope and Charity. The central portico —of Charity— has two doors dedicated to the Gospel, with the Gospel texts that narrate the last days of Jesus, separated by a mullion with the Greek letters alpha and omega, as a symbol of the beginning and the end. The doors measure 5.28 meters high by 2.82 wide, and weigh 6,500 kilos. The one on the left presents the passages related to the Passion of the Gospel of Matthew, and the one on the right of John. Opposite the Doors of the Gospel is the column of The Flagellation, which replaces the cross initially planned by Gaudí; for this reason, Subirachs divided the column into four blocks, symbolizing the four parts of the cross. It is five meters high, and is made of travertine marble.

Subirachs self-portrait in the figure of Nicodemus, group of The burial of the Passion of the Holy Family.

The portico of Faith presents the Gate of Gethsemane, 4.41 meters high by 2.40 meters wide, dedicated to the prayer of Jesus in the olive grove. We see the images of Jesus praying, while his disciples sleep, and in the upper left part the night sky appears with the full moon, as a harbinger of death. In the lower part there is a polyhedron from the engraving La Melancolía by Albrecht Dürer.

The portico of Hope presents the Door of the Coronation of Thorns, 5 meters high and 2.40 meters wide. Here Jesus appears mocked with the crown of thorns, the cloak and the reed, as a mockery of his kingship. In another scene, Jesus is led before Herod and Pilate, who appear facing each other symmetrically, as if seen in a mirror. It also includes a quote from Dante's The Divine Comedy and a poem from La pell de brau (The Bull's Skin) by Salvador Espriu.

On the pediment located over these three porticos —currently under construction— there will be a frieze representing the prophets, accompanied by Abraham's sacrificial lamb; and the patriarchs, together with the lion of Judah, conqueror of death. These biblical figures have been represented by Subirachs with their names and corresponding symbols in the form of an arabesque, engraved in a relief 36 meters long and 5.5 meters high. The work is already finished, and all that remains is to place it in its corresponding place when the works on the pediment are finished.

Subirachs also made the figures of the four apostles to whom the towers corresponding to the Passion façade are dedicated: Saint James the Less, Saint Thomas, Saint Philip and Saint Bartholomew. They are made of travertine stone 3.25 meters high, and were placed between February and October 2000. Santiago is represented with a bishop's crozier, since he was traditionally the first bishop of Jerusalem; Saint Bartholomew appears with a knife, a symbol of his martyrdom, as well as a scroll, since he was the author of an apocryphal gospel; Saint Thomas is shown in a doubtful attitude, since he had to touch Jesus to believe in his resurrection; and Saint Philip holds a book in his hands, a symbol of the preaching that he carried out in Asia Minor.

At a higher level is the Holy Spirit, a sculpture for which Subirachs was inspired by a dove, but with almost abstract shapes, installed in 2001; and finally the Ascension de Jesús, on the bridge that joins the towers of San Bartolomé and Santo Tomás, 60 meters high, a work made of bronze, installed in 2005.

In addition to his work on the Passion façade, Subirachs carried out other works in the temple: in 2007 a sculpture of Saint George was installed on the railing of the jubé —on the inner side of the Gloria façade—, a three-meter-tall bronze statue, inspired by Donatello's Saint George. Likewise, in September 2008 the doors of the Gloria façade were installed, made in bronze, with inscriptions of the Our Father, highlighting the second paragraph on the central doors (Give us today our daily bread), written in fifty different languages.

The sculptural work of Josep Maria Subirachs on the Passion façade was declared a Cultural Asset of National Interest on February 11, 2019, according to the cataloging carried out by the Generalitat of Catalonia, which noted that it is an "exceptional episode in the contemporary sculpture that has made its author an essential reference point for Catalan art".

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  Last dinner.

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  The kiss of Judas.

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  Column The Flag.

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  Ecce Homo.

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  The Veronica.

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  Private Longino.

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  The Judgment of Jesus.

Main works

Monument to Narcís Monturiol (1963), Barcelona.

• 1947: Everywhere. Rottier Collection, Barcelona.
• 1953: Europe. Modest Cuixart Collection, Barcelona.
• 1953: Moses. Miguel Lerín Collection, Barcelona.
• 1954: Mannequin. Collection Josep Ferrer, Tarragona.
• 1957: Form 212. Mundet homes, Barcelona.
• 1958: Tekel (Premio Julio González). Collection of the artist.
• 1958: Ambones Ave / Eve and Holy Communion and Crucifix, main altar of the church of the Mundet Houses, Barcelona (wall painting of the background of Joan-Josep Tharrats).
• 1959: Frisos and doors of the Shrine of the Virgin of the Way, León.
• 1959: Tables of the Law. Faculty of Law of Barcelona.
• 1960: Marine evocation. Paseo Juan de Borbón, in the neighborhood of La Barceloneta de Barcelona.
• 1962: Vertical lost wax. International Museum, Market Center Award, Dallas.
• 1962: Cruz de San Miguel. Monastery of Montserrat.
• 1963: Monument to Narcís Monturiol. Barcelona.
• 1963: Monument to the victims of the floods of Vallés. Ruby.
• 1964: Santa Cecilia, Crucifix and The Trinity, main altar of the parish of Santa Cecilia, Barcelona.
• 1965: Monument to Pompeu Fabra. Plains.
• 1965: Monument to victims of Carmona Air Accident (Sevilla).
• 1965: Facade of the College of Our Lady of Peace, together with the architect Fray Coello of Portugal Torrelavega (Cantabria).
• 1965: Puertas de San Pedro y San Pablo, church of the Bell-lloc Residence, La Roca del Vallés (with windows of Albert Ràfols-Casamada).
• 1966: Escudos de Barcelona. Vestíbulo de la Casa de la Ciudad de Barcelona.
• 1966: The column. Middelheim Museum of Antwerp (Belgium).
• 1967: Venus of the hill of Peñíscola. Peñíscola.
• 1967: The measurement of space-time. Mercurio Building in Barcelona.
• 1968: Monument to International Trade. Dallas.
• 1968: Monument to the Olympics of Mexicoin memory of the 19th Olympiad, Route of Friendship, Mexico City.
• 1968-1972: Tribute to Leonardo. Estrada Museum, Swords of Llobregat.
• 1969: Friso Barcelona, on the facade of the Novísimo building of Barcelona City Council.
• 1969: Tribute to Barcelona. Montjuic Park in Barcelona.
• 1969: Diagonal, mural for the homonymous station of Barcelona Metro.
• 1970: Monument to Santo Domingo de Guzmán. Monastery of Montserrat.
• 1971: Reliefs for the façade of the Banco de Sabadell on the Rambla de Catalunya in Barcelona.
• 1971: Communication and computerization. Facade of the Macià building, Plaza Francesc Macià de Barcelona.
• 1972: On the other side of the wall. Museo de Escultura al Aire Libre del Paseo de la Castellana de Madrid.
• 1973: Introversion, participating in the I International Exhibition of Sculpture in the Calle de Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
• 1973: To Príapo. Playa de Aro.
• 1975: Monument to Hospitalet de Llobregat.
• 1975: To the Roman Barcelona. The Prat de Llobregat.
• 1975: Gala Placidia. San Sadurní de Noya.
• 1975: San Jorge. Headquarters of the Caixa d'Estalvis de Catalunya, Antoni Maura Square, Barcelona.
• 1975: Puerta de San Jorge. Palacio del Lloctinent, Barcelona.
• 1976: door for the sacristy of the chapel of Saint George of the Palace of Generality of Catalonia, as well as the Relieve de San Jorge-Teseo in the gallery that unites the Palace of Generality with the House of Canons.

Friso de la Estación de Sants (1979), currently at the Museo del Ferrocarril de Cataluña.

• 1976: Monument to Ramon Llull. Monastery of Montserrat.
• 1977: Altar of the Chapel of the Most Holy. Monastery of Montserrat.
• 1977: Babel. Pompeu Fabra Public Library, Mataró.
• 1977: San Francisco and Bernat Metge, Pantheon de Francesc Cambó, Cemetery de Montjuic, Barcelona.
• 1979: Friso on the facade of the Sants Station in Barcelona.
• 1979: Monument to Manresa.
• 1979: Nuria-Fedra, Museu de les Arts de l'Espectacle, Instituto del Teatro de Barcelona.
• 1981: Relieve, Madrid-Barajas Airport (currently at Alicante-Elche Airport).
• 1981: Tribute to the Catalan Resistance. Parliament of Catalonia.
• 1982: Monument to the Recovery of Generality of Catalonia. Beer.
• 1982-1984: Matter-Forma. Casa de la Ciudad de Barcelona.
• 1983: Olympus. Monument to the Olympics, at the headquarters of the IOC, Lausanne (Switzerland).
• 1983: Jónica. Tribute to Kavafis. Palma de Mallorca.
• 1983: Monument to Francesc Macià. Villanueva and Geltrú.
• 1983: The Creation (Homenage to Michelangelo). He killed.
• 1984: Monument to Pau Casals. Vendrell (Tarragona).
• 1984: Bust of President Francesc Macià at the Patio de los Naranjos del Palacio de la Generalidad de Catalunya.
• 1985: Ariadna and Hermes. Monastery of Montserrat.
• 1985: Ammon on the main altar of the Monastery of Poblet.
• 1986: Monument to Salvador Espriu in Santa Coloma de Farners and relief dedicated to the same poet in the old building of the University of Barcelona.
• 1986: Monument to Count Borrell II. Cardona.
• 1986: Bust of the pianist Rosa Sabater at the Palacio de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.
• 1986: San Jorge. Monastery of Montserrat.
• 1986: The architect (Monumento to the builders of the Cathedral of Gerona)In the Jewish quarter of that city.
• 1987-2009: Facade of the Passion of the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia of Barcelona.
• 1987: The pillars of heavenin commemoration of the Olympic Games in Seoul.
• 1988: Monument to Gaspar de PortolàFrancesc Carulla. San Francisco (California). A copy was made in 1994 at the Parador Nacional de Turismo de Artiés (Valle de Arán).
• 1988: Monument to Federico García Lorca. Everywhere.
• 1989: Union of East and West. Seoul (Corea).
• 1989: Clio. San Julián de Loria (Andorra).
• 1990: Bust of President Lluís Companys at the Orange Court of the Palacio de la Generalidad de Cataluña.
• 1990: Monument to the Millennial of Catalonia. Tarragona.
• 1991: Monument to Francesc Macià. Plaza de Catalunya, Barcelona.
• 1993: Friso Iris. Plaza de Colón, Madrid.
• 1994: Catalonia. Plaza Catalunya de Sabadell.
• 1999: Bust of President Josep Tarradellas at the Naranjos Palace of the Generality of Catalonia.
• 2001: Bust of President Josep Irla at the Orange Court of the Palace of Generality of Catalonia.
• 2002: Jónica (Homenaje al Novecentismo). Jardines del Balneario Vichy Catalan de Caldas de Malavella.
• 2002: Monumental sculpture for the Gwangju City Sculpture Park, Gyeonggi Province (South Korea).

Exhibitions

On the other side of the wall (1972), Museo de Escultura al Aire Libre (Madrid).

• 1948: Casa del Libro, Barcelona.
• 1949: II October Hall, Barcelona.
• 1950: I Salón de Arte Independiente, Sala Caralt, Barcelona.
• 1951: I Bienal Hispanoamericana, Madrid.
• 1953: São Paulo International Biennial. II Jazz Hall, Barcelona.
• 1954: Antwerp Biennial. Galerie Unicum, Bruges. Galerie Madeleine Baes, Knokke.
• 1955: III International Biennial of Sculpture, Middelheim Museum of Antwerp.
• 1956: Georges Giroux Gallery, Brussels.
• 1957: II Biennial of Alexandria. Chinese National Art Museum, Taipei.
• 1958: Galeries Laietanes, Barcelona.
• 1959: Galeries Jardin, Barcelona. Biosca Gallery, Madrid. Gallery 59, Aschaffenburg.
• 1960: Ateneo de Madrid. Sala Gaspar, Barcelona.
• 1961: VI International Sculpture Biennial, Middelheim Museum of Antwerp.
• 1962: Joachim Gallery, Chicago. Galerie Mesure, Paris. Sala Gaspar, Barcelona.
• 1963: VII São Paulo Biennial. Salon de la Jeune Sculpture, Rodin Museum, Paris.
• 1964: Sample Contemporany Sculptors of SpainNew York World Fair.
• 1965: Sala Gaspar, Barcelona. Semiha Huber Gallery, Zurich. South Gallery, Santander.
• 1966: Ateneo de Madrid. Grises Gallery, Bilbao. Exposition Internationale de Sculpture Contemporaine, Maison Rodin, Paris. Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York. X International Sculpture Biennial, Middelheim Museum of Antwerp.
• 1967: Sala Gaspar, Barcelona.
• 1968: Seiquer Gallery, Madrid. XXXIV Venice Biennale.
• 1969: Exhibition Art espagnol d’aujourd’hui, Rath Museum, Geneva. Sample Contemporary Spanish Art, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
• 1970: Musée du Petit Palais, Geneva.
• 1971: Skira Gallery, Madrid.
• 1972: Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York.
• 1973: Rene-Metrás Gallery, Barcelona.
• 1974: Artur Ramon Gallery, Barcelona. D'Eendt Gallery, Amsterdam.
• 1975: III International Small Sculpture Biennial, Budapest.
• 1976: ART 7’76, Basel. ARTEXPO 76, Barcelona. Fundación Joan Miró, Barcelona.
• 1977: Biosca Gallery, Madrid. ART 8'77, Basel. Sala d'Exposicions de la Caixa Laietana, Mataró.
• 1978: 1ère Triennale Européenne de Sculpture, Palais Royal, Paris. Levy Gallery, Hamburg. Sacharoff Gallery, Barcelona. ART 9'78, Basel.
• 1979: ART 10’79, Basel. Exhibition Subirachs. Homenatge to Fortuny i Gaudí, Centre de Lectura de Reus.
• 1980: Sala d'Art Daedalus, Barcelona.
• 1981: Biosca Gallery, Madrid. ART 12'81, Basel.
• 1982: R.K. Parker Gallery, New York. ARCO’82, Madrid.
• 1983: ARCO’83, Madrid. ART EXPO’83, New York. ART 14’83, Basel.
• 1984: Exhibition organized by the Generality of Catalonia in Paris, Albi and Perpignan.
• 1985: ARCO’85, Madrid. I Biennale de Arte del Futbol Club Barcelona, Palacio de Pedralbes.
• 1987: French Institute, Barcelona. Goya House, Bordeaux.
• 1988: Millesgärden Museum, Stockholm. Exhibition Subirachs. Opera Grafica, Sala Tecnorama de Verona y Galleria Arte al Borgo de Palermo.
• 1990: retrospective exhibition at the Art Museum Ginza in Tokyo.
• 1992: Casa del Monte, Madrid. Catalonia Pavilion of the Expo de Sevilla.
• 1993: Exhibition Subirachs. Œuvres Récentes, French Institute of Barcelona. Museum of Modern Art of Tarragona.
• 1994: Pia Almoina, Barcelona. Centro Jujol - Can Negre, San Juan Despí.
• 1995: Biosca Gallery, Madrid. Artistic Circle of San Lucas, Barcelona.
• 1997: Anthology at Tour Fromage, Valle de Aosta (Italy). XII International Biennial of Sport in Fine Arts, Real Atarazanas de Barcelona.
• 2000: 50 Anys d'Obres de Subirachs, Museu Municipal de Tosa de Mar. Subirachs. Skulpturen, Zeichnungen und Grafik, Opernring Margaretha Schwerer Gallery, Vienna.
• 2001: Subirachs. Idea, matèria, formaMuseu de Mataró.
• 2002: From Gaudí to Tàpies. Catalan Masters of the 20th Century, Museum of Fine Arts of Seville.
• 2003: Retrospective Subirachs. Volums, textures, symbols, Moja Palace of Barcelona.
• 2004: Subirachs. 50 ans desins, Maison de la Catalogne, Paris.
• 2005: Western Lake Museum, Hangzhou, China.
• 2007: Subirachs to MontserratMuseum of Montserrat.
• 2008: Espace d'Art Contemporain Puigmartí, Bourg-Madame (France).
• 2010: Subirachs. Analogs, dualities, oppositions, Lonja de Zaragoza.

Awards

Shield of l'Hospitalet (1974).

• First sculpture prize in the II Jazz Hall of Barcelona (1953).
• Bronze Medal at the II Biennial of Alexandria, Egypt (1957).
• Gran Premio Sant Jordi de la Diputación de Barcelona (1958).
• Julio González de la Cambra Barcelonesa d'Art (1958).
• I Ynglada-Guillot International Drawing Award (1966).
• I Premio Internacional Sant Martí d'Or (1971).
• Barcelona Critics Award for the best exhibition of 1973 (1974).
• Corresponding Member of the Hispanic Society of America of New York (1976).
• Academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi in Barcelona (1980).
• Creu de Sant Jordi de la Generalidad de Cataluña (1982).
• Knight of the Order of the Arts and Letters of France (1986).
• Personnalité de l'Année 1987, international distinction awarded for his contribution to the world of the Arts in Paris.
• Premio Sparo de la Agrupació Catalana d'Entitats Artístiques (1988).
• Academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando de Madrid (1989).
• Premio Correo de las Artes al «best artist in the speciality of sculpture», Madrid (1993).
• Gold Medal of the Fons International Painting of Barcelona (1996).
• Named "The most important living Catalan artist of the 20th century" according to a survey conducted by the newspaper La Vanguardia, Catalunya Ràdio and Enciclopèdia Catalana (1997).
• Gold Medal to Merit in Fine Arts awarded by the Ministry of Education and Culture (1998).
• Protagonists 2002 Art Prize, of the radio program Zero Onda.
• Gold Medal to the Artistic Merit of Barcelona City Council (2011).

In 2005 the asteroid (134124) Subirachs was dedicated to him.