35 - MARCEL MARTÍ BADENES (Alvear, Argentina, 1925–Girona, 2010).

MARCEL MARTÍ BADENES (Alvear, Argentina, 1925–Girona, 2010). Untitled, 1998. Iron, edition 75/90. Signed, dated, and numbered on the base. Measurements: 19 x 13 x 9 cm. Provenance: Estate of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Artistic and heritage collection originating in the legacy of Catalan painters Ramon Martí Alsina (1826–1894), a seminal figure of 19th-century Catalan Realism, and his son Ricard Martí Aguiló (1857–1935). Passed down and enriched across successive generations, the collection brings together works from the original holdings of both artists alongside acquisitions made by their descendants. Dedicated to preserving and recovering the family legacy, the descendants actively reacquired works by the painters as they entered the market, progressively expanding the collection to encompass paintings, sculptures, archaeological artifacts, and other items of artistic and historical significance. The sculpture up for auction embodies one of the most characteristic aspects of Marcel Martí’s mature artistic language: the transformation of abstraction into an organic, compact, and dynamic form. The piece is constructed through an ascending rhythm of curved, recessed, and protruding surfaces, articulated around a large central void that takes on as much artistic significance as the iron mass itself. Having lived with his family in Barcelona since he was three years old, Marcel Martí studied at the La Lonja School of Fine Arts. He began his artistic career in the field of painting in 1942, but in 1953 he abandoned it to devote himself fully to sculpture. He held his first solo exhibition in 1948 at the Sala Caralt in Barcelona. Thanks to the success of that exhibition, Martí was able to travel to Paris, where he became part of the city’s artistic circles. At the Grande Chaumière Academy, he studied under Zadkine and Lothe. In 1950, he traveled through Sweden and Italy, where he was deeply impressed by the work of Michelangelo, whom Marcel Martí regarded as the epitome of a complete artist. Among his awards, the Manolo Hugué Sculpture Prize (1958) stands out, and he has exhibited his work in Spain, Europe, the United States, and Japan. His work is represented at the Museum of Abstract Sculpture on La Castellana in Madrid; the Salvador Allende Museum in Chile; the Contemporary Art Museums in Vilafamés, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and Ibiza; the Museum of Abstract Art in Cuenca; and the San Telmo Museum in San Sebastián, among many others.