Figure of a woman

Jordi Sarrà Rabascall (1935-1990) His first toys were crayons and paper. In 1944 he receives his first art lessons from the sculptor Salvador Voltas and in 1950 from the sculptor Modest Gené. In 1951 he moves to Barcelona to study at the Sant Jordi School and was an outstanding pupil of Soriano Montagut. He returns to Tarragona and studies at the School of Art and Design with the lecturers Gonzalo Lindín and Lluís M. Saumells. In 1960 he travelled to Paris where he becomes seduced by Fauvism and expressionism, which have a major influence on his style. After leaving Paris in 1965, he returns to Tarragona where he is received with some enthusiasm, in addition to various awards. For example, in 1968 the Diputación of Tarragona present him with the 17th Tapiró Painting Award for the painting Figura de dona (Figure of a woman). This is the period in which Sarrà focuses his work on portraiture and in it he displays a pre-eminence of colour over the drawing, which he explained allowed him to express his state of mind better, which is the aim of painting. The return to portraiture and the importance of colour link the artist to Fauvism. The natural style of the brushstrokes and the direct and carefree nature of his canvases are some of the characteristics he explores in his portraits. The juxtaposition of vivid colours is one of his rules, which he uses to transmit the emotive concept of the painting. Like the Fauvists, Sarrà is an artist who does not theorise or organise his work based on a precise declaration of intentions, instead his sole obsession is the performing of the creative act: the work.