JUAN CLARÀ I AYATS (Olot, Girona, 1875 - Barcelona, 1958).
"Boy putting on his shoe".
Patinated bronze.
Casting stamp on the back.
Signed on the side.
Measurements: 24,5 x 10,5 x 15 cm.
Juan Clarà was the brother of the sculptor José Clarà, with whom he travelled to Toulouse and Paris. Settled in Paris at the beginning of the 20th century, he exhibited his pieces at the Salon des Artistes Français in the capital, as well as holding exhibitions in Madrid and Barcelona. His works were cast by the Foundry of Artistic Bronzes in Paris, and in that city he ran a private academy, enjoying as much prestige there as his brother. Juan Clarà specialised in making small bronzes on children's themes, modelled with a fine sensitivity. His chryselephantine sculptures were also famous. As for his children's pieces, Clarà reflected a grace and freshness that created a school, making him the main representative of the naturalist trend in Spanish sculpture. Although his figures preserve the realist tradition of the 19th century, in them we can appreciate, through the spontaneity of the gestures and the treatment of the patinas of the bronzes, a search for freedom that brings the Catalan sculptor closer to the modernist ideals of the European artists of the early 20th century. Juan Clarà is currently represented in the Fundación Manuel Ramos Andrade and the Museo de Art Déco y Art Nouveau Casa Lis in Salamanca, among others, as well as in numerous private collections.