Sweet load

The work of Josep Cañas in Mexico became an exceptional document, one of extraordinary wealth. It is a lively and contemporary work of a culture that only seemed relevant to ancient art museums. The Mediterranean origins of Cañas allowed him to impose the categories of classical civilisation upon the figures of indigenous Mexico. As Margarita Nelken said: “a barefoot Indian woman with combed braids, full of a sense of eternity, at times confused within the idea of a resigned and ancestral immobility, is converted by Cañas into a movement of unique rhythm and grace, to the point of creating a form of sculpture full of serenity and at the same time almost undecipherable human dignity”. Josep Cañas Cañas (1905-2001) He trained at the Vilanova i la Geltrú School of Arts and Trades. In 1947, for an exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Madrid, the Institute of Hispanic Culture acquired a relief from him to be installed at the Saint Charles Borromeu mission in Carmel, California, where it was transferred for its collection. He later discovered Mexico and its indigenous wealth: for seven years he transported the different races of this country to his drawings and sculptures. This work resulted in him receiving considerable international acclaim.