The Lady

Josep M. Brull Pagès (1907-1995) From his birthplace Ascó, when he was small he moved to Tivissa, where his father was a teacher. He graduated in teacher training in Tarragona. In 1927 he arrived in Ripollet, after obtaining a teaching post, and came into contact with the cultural circles in Sabadell, which was the start of his career as an artist. Brull consolidated his artistic apprenticeship at the Llotja in Barcelona and the Industrial School of Arts and Trades of Sabadell. In 1940 his passion to develop his artistic career took him to Olot, the meeting point of many artists of the time, where he experimented with new techniques and materials. He was a disciple of Bosch Roger, Xavier Nogués and Manuel Humbert. However, the Spanish Civil War and the victory of the nationalists would mark the most significant change in his life. Josep Maria Brull was accused of being a Catalanist and a separatist, and dispossessed of his teaching qualification, for publishing some texts in Catalan in the review Germanor. For this reason, the 1940 Brull Braut family decided to settle in Ripollet. There they opened a private school where Encarnació Braut, his wife and renowned painter from Ripollet, gave classes. The school remained open until the seventies. In 1943, he held his first individual exhibition at the Sabadell Academy of Fine Arts. In 1944 he started giving classes in modelling and ceramics at the Industrial School of Arts and Trades of Sabadell, which he would continue for over 30 years. His works often represent scenes depicting local customs, farm work and births. The sculpture La dama (The lady) is the portrait of a woman from the Balearic Isles in traditional attire. The work exudes Mediterranean identity in its forms and volumes, similar to the expressiveness of Egyptian hieratism, but with some personal touches which link it to current trends at the time of its execution. This was a recurring theme in the sculptor’s work, which was executed in various materials, such as stone, granite and earthenware. 11th Julio Antonio Sculpture Award, 1952 Art Biennial.