62 - RICARDO OPISSO I SALA (Tarragona, 1880 - Barcelona, 1966).

RICARDO OPISSO I SALA (Tarragona, 1880 - Barcelona, 1966). "Interior of Els quatre gats", 1899. Pencil on paper. Signed and dated. Measurements: 25 x 31 cm; 42 x 50 cm (frame). This work is an exceptional historical and artistic document. A drawing by Ricardo Opisso dated 1899 and located inside Els Quatre Gats is not only a work of art, it is a first-hand testimony of the golden age of Catalan modernism. "Els Quatre Gats" (opened in 1897) was at its peak as the epicenter of Barcelona's cultural avant-garde. In that year, a young Pablo Picasso was exhibiting there, and figures such as Ramón Casas and Santiago Rusiñol were regulars. Opisso, who was only 19 years old at the time, was the youngest of the group and acted as visual chronicler of those gatherings. Opisso was a painter, draftsman and cartoonist. In his youth he participated in the modernist environment of Barcelona, and in fact in 1894 he began to work as an apprentice with Antoni Gaudí in the works of the Sagrada Familia. Two years later, backed by the architect, he became a member of the Círculo Artístico de Sant Lluc, with whom he would later exhibit in the Sala Parés. He was linked to the group Els Quatre Gats, together with Ramón Casas, Manuel Hugué, Isidre Nonell and Pablo Picasso, among others. In 1901 he made a trip to Paris, where Picasso and Hugué were already there. He worked as an illustrator in publications such as "Cu-cut!" and "L'Esquella de la Torratxa", signing drawings oriented to political satire, in a style close to art nouveau. In 1907 he took part in the Fine Arts Exhibition in Barcelona, and received a third class medal. Due to the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, Opisso abandoned political satire and his drawings approached the costumbrista theme, specializing in popular scenes. His works of this period are characterized by presenting motley crowds in popular Barcelona scenes. After having exhibited several times in succession at the Sala Parés, he held his first individual exhibition in 1935, at the Syra galleries in Barcelona. During the post-war period he continued to exhibit in various galleries in Barcelona, and reaped great success with both critics and the public. In 1953 he received the recognition of his hometown in the IV Art Fair of Tarragona. During his early years, apart from his surname, Opisso also used to sign his work with an "O" for Opisso, which contains the "R" of his name. Most of his work is preserved in the Opisso Museum in Barcelona, but it is also present in the National Art Museum of Catalonia and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Strasbourg. As for exhibitions, the one held at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in 2004, under the title "Catalan painting, from naturalism to noucentisme", in which his work "Carnival" was exhibited, stands out. Likewise, the Saló del Tinell (1979), the Palau de la Virreina (1980), the Salón Náutico Internacional de Barcelona (1973), the Fundació La Caixa (1988, 2004, 2008) and the Caixa Tarragona (2003) have dedicated anthological exhibitions to him.