36 - MARCEL MARTÍ (Alvear, Argentina, 1925 – Peratallada, Girona, 2010).

MARCEL MARTÍ (Alvear, Argentina, 1925 – Peratallada, Girona, 2010). Untitled, 1986. Iron, edition 7/9. Signed, dated, and numbered by hand. Measurements: 33 x 21 x 18 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 encapsulates one of the most characteristic aspects of Marcel Martí’s mature artistic language: the transformation of abstraction into a compact and dynamic form. The piece is constructed through an ascending rhythm of curved, recessed, and protruding surfaces that take on as much visual significance as the iron mass itself. Marcel Martí was a leading figure in the postwar Catalan sculptural renewal. From the mid-1950s onward, he focused his work on sculpture and moved toward abstraction, later developing a style characterized by organic forms and a strong volumetric presence. He received the Manolo Hugué Prize in 1958 and the Julio González Prize in 1960, and created numerous monumental works for public spaces. His body of work is represented, among other institutions, at the Museo de Arte Público in Madrid and the Fundació Vila Casas.