Astronomer

In the works of Saumells there are certain figures, such as the astronomer, which appear on several occasions throughout his career with slight variations. The typical image of the series is of a man with an enraptured pose looking at the sky and, absorbed in its infinity, forgets his own material being. His body is configured in regressive ascension. The lower limbs, full and muscular, become slimmer from the waist. The exhibition of his bones has a premonitory sense: it tells us of the fatal destiny imposed by nature; it symbolises death without remedy; it evokes time and questions eternity. The astronomer looks up, to the sky: the sublime space. It is the model of the spiritual man. Lluís M. Saumells Panadés (1915-1999) He held his first exhibition in Tarragona, in 1934, at the Ateneu Tarraconense, and in 1945 moved to Paris with a scholarship from the French government. On his return from France, in 1949, he was appointed the Director of the Studio-School of Art of the Diputació of Tarragona, the city where he would make his home, except for occasional stays in Palma. The artist, using a defined volume presents a minimum of details, creating his own typology with which he would work constantly, with minor variations: expressionist figures of hands with long and thin fingers and angular faces. The same characteristics are also applied to his pictorial and paper production. His commitment to art would result in him becoming a true promoter of culture in the city. Text by Enric Baixeras