Carles Casagemas. The Artist Beneath the Myth (2024)

Carles Casagemas is one of the most fascinating and enigmatic figures in the realm of Catalan art. However, knowledge of his oeuvre has invariably been subordinated to his friendship with Picasso and the fact that he committed suicide at the age of twenty. Here for the first time his extant work, basically portraits and landscapes, will be exhibited as a whole as the result of a stringent prior research process. We show a set of oil paintings and drawings, many of which have never previously been seen in public, although the fact that much of his work has been lost prevents us from appraising it in all its dimensions.

Casagemas belonged to the generation of young post-Modernistes who sought to surpass the earlier modernista generation, although initially he owed much to this generation in that his work was marked by a certain degree of costumisme. An artist of contrasts, he combined an expressionist-inspired ‘negrista’ note with pieces of substantial lyricism, often denoting symbolist and decadent roots which were also present in his incipient literary work. The eclectic, uneven nature of his work was characteristic of a formative phase, with all the conditioning factors this implies. His artistic activities occupied, at most, the last five years of his life.

Casagemas was an active habitué at Els Quatre Gats, where he exhibited on two occasions in 1900, the first being a one-man show. He spent a first sojourn in Paris with Picasso, which lasted scarcely three months, and his second stay there, of a few days only, culminated in his suicide. Although he has been labelled as maudit, he nonetheless established a rich network of artistic and intellectual contacts. He was a genuine ‘modern’, an artist of his day who, despite his youth, was intuitive or intelligent enough to choose as his models–and friends–the most talented artists in his immediate circle, such as Joaquim Mir, Isidre Nonell and Picasso. Some of his works explicitly reveal these influences, while others denote substantial originality, fruit of his own strong personality.

From this exhibition we also learn that Casagemas was endowed with an exceptional capacity to represent his time. Despite his scant output, his oeuvre–and, needless to say, his life–constituted points of confluence between the artistic quests, registers and tensions of one of the most brilliant periods in the history of Catalan art.

This exhibition reveals Casagemas’s relatively undiscovered facet as a landscapist, since he is known above all as a portraitist. The landscapes are apportioned to several areas of the exhibition, in a number of different genres and executed in a variety of techniques, such as oil paintings and drawings, including dibuixos ‘fregits’ (‘fried’ drawings). A total of four oils are exhibited, three of which have never been shown in public before, which represent three different moments in his career: from his first known work, a seascape, to the almost pre-fauve works of his final years via an oil painting that links him to the Colla del Safrà (Saffron Group). Broadly speaking, this evolution runs parallel to that of Catalan landscapism, to which Casagemas was no stranger.

1.1. El mercat (The Market)

Although Casagemas has rarely been regarded as a bona fide member of the Colla del Safrà, El mercat epitomises the artistic principles of the group. This work, which belonged to Picasso’s collection, reveals explicit thematic and compositional influences of two of Joaquim Mir’s significant early works and recalls the syncopated, pseudo-pointilliste painterly calligraphy of Darío de Regoyos.

1.2. Paisatge de costa (Coastal Landscape) / Paisatge amb gran arbre (Landscape with Big Tree)

This research project has revealed that during his short career Casagemas significantly developed the landscape. Moreover, two works in particular marked a major step forward in the genre by applying thick coats of strident colours as part of a very modern approach. These paintings were executed around 1900, and it is to his landscapist side that we refer to as the ‘broken link’.

1.3. Autoretrat (Self Portrait)

The only self portrait by Casagemas that has come down to us reveals aspects of both his artistic and human personalities. He appears stooped over, somewhat absorbed in his own thoughts and, although the portrait seems realistic, it nonetheless has the quality of a caricature in that it accentuates particular features of his such as the nose and the ears, to the point where he almost comes to resemble a rodent. Outstanding here is the combination of ink and pencil, as well as the way he outlines the face using conté pencil, in the Japanese manner, and the powdered effect on the surface of the paper.

Casagemas’s oeuvre marks the convergence of the ‘white wing’ and the ‘black wing’ of Modernisme, to use Alexandre Cirici’s expression. The white register ranges from symbolist pieces to costumista works, street scenes in particular, and life drawings of artisans and characteristic types. These are more modernista works, in which Casagemas has recourse to the arabesque and the partial application of colour fields. For the most part, these works correspond to his early period as an artist and reveal more explicit influence on the part of the first modernista generation. Despite the costumista subject matter, works like Vianants (Pedestrians) already reveal an entirely personal artistic idiom, of great modernity by virtue of its conception and bold use of colour.

2.1. Escena de carrer (Street Scene)

This is one of the five drawings at the exhibition that belong to the category of ‘fregits’ (fried). Four are deeply influenced by Nonell, a personal friend of Casagemas’s and one of the artists he admired most. Nonell was one of the pioneers in the application of this technique, which he handed down to younger artists such as Casagemas, which consisted of manipulating the paper in such a way as to endow it with a patina of antiquity by means of techniques which have yet to be precisely defined, although they bear no relation to the oral tradition that speaks of drawings bathed in boiling oil, a theory that has no scientific basis.

2.2. José Ruiz Blasco

Although it lasted for barely two years, the relationship between Casagemas and Picasso was of great intensity and they frequently visited each other’s families. The constant search for themes and models led Casagemas to portray Picasso’s father. Although we cannot see his face, we may nevertheless identify José Ruiz Blasco by comparing this drawing with an almost identical contemporary one by Picasso.

Casagemas was one of the artists who exhibited in the Sala Gran (Big Hall) at Els Quatre Gats, specifically on two occasions. The first was a one-man show which took place between March 26 and April 10 1900. An invitation was published for the opening, although it included no list of works. The second was a group exhibition, held between July and August that same year, at which he presented five works. From a number of reviews we partially discern the content of these exhibitions.

3.1. Pastor pirinenc (Pyrenean Shepherd) / Paisatge amb edifice (Landscape with Building)

Pastor pirinenc and Paisatge amb edifici are ‘fried’ drawings that belonged to two of Casagemas’s friends, Joan Vidal Ventosa and Santiago Rusiñol, respectively. The first reveals the influence of Nonell’s cretins, with Japanese-style composition and characters outlined in conté pencil. On the other hand, Paisatge amb edifici is more personal in style, with the recurrent mixture of techniques in his quest for disturbing atmospheres. Both denote the diversity of registers of Casagemas the landscapist.

3.2. Pompeu Gener

Pompeu Gener Babot, Peius (Barcelona, 1848-1920), a chemist and writer, was a personage of many interests. A friend of Casagemas’s, it was the latter who introduced him to Picasso, who also portrayed him on many occasions. All three were in contact with each other in both Barcelona and Paris, where Peius received them on their first trip to the city. Peius was extremely fond of this equestrian portrait, which he kept all his life. When he died, in 1920, he bequeathed it to the city of Barcelona and it now forms part of the Museu Nacional collection.

Casagemas occupied a studio at no. 57, Carrer Nou de la Rambla, in a building that belonged to his family. It stood above the vault at the confluence between Nou de la Rambla and Carrer Cirés, also known at that time as the ‘street of brawls’, on the edge of the low-life district. Casagemas belonged to the upper middle class and his interest in society’s dropouts was fruit not only of artistic quests but also of his own experience on these streets. Two themes stand out here, coupes and bordellos, some examples of which are on show at this exhibition. This area includes works that, broadly speaking, belong to his later period, in the sense that his work gradually evolved towards more expressionist positions and sharper social criticism.

4.1. Parella (Couple) / Sortida del teatre (Leaving the Theatre)

Like Juli Vallmitjana, one of his acquaintances, Casagemas associated physical blemishes with mental depravity in a cause-effect relationship. In this context, the drawing Sortida del teatre is a genuine declaration of intentions, in which we find not only social but also artistic criticism. This pastel is the result of placing a distorting mirror in front of the gallant scenes so beloved by the bourgeoisie of the time.

4.2. Casa de cites (Bordello) (pastel) / Casa de cites (Bordello) (‘fregit’)

The pastel Casa de cites, which establishes a clear dialogue with Picasso’s El divan, is the paradigm of both artists’ parallel process of artistic growth. From the iconological point of view, this work and the ‘fregit’ Casa de cites reveal a sequence of life in the brothel. In the former we see preliminary flirting while the latter depicts the service rendered, with the client emerging from a dark room, adjusting his trousers and his tie still to be done up, and the prostitute with a small towel in her hand as a minimal token of hygiene.

At the end of the nineteenth century the image of the solitary woman played a major role above all in Impressionism. In Casagemas’s oeuvre she also features preponderantly. However, in his case the unique quality lies in the way he ‘de-eroticises’ femininity. His distinct misogyny and his complicated relations with the female sex may constitute the basis of some works of his that are hard to interpret, especially a set of female figures surrounded by ghostly apparitions. These pieces correspond to his most symbolist side, reflected also in some of his poems, in which we also appreciate visions of a spectral nature.

5.1. Manola, El tocador (The Dresser), Darrere la finestra (Behind the Window)

Manola, El tocador and Darrere la finestra form a sequence in which the artist experiments with the dominant colours in each of the pieces as well as with different types of ghostly apparitions. Casagemas activates an original ‘black’ reversion of modernista iconography: on the basis of a priori conventional and pleasing archetypes–women in shawls, sitting at dressers or looking through the window–he creates disturbing atmospheres that contrast with feminine delicacy.

5.2 Germaine

Casagemas met Laure Germaine Gargallo (Paris, 1880-1948) through Isidre Nonell. Germaine was married, although she led a life of emancipation, having sexual relations with Manolo and Picasso before eventually marrying the painter Ramon Pichot. Practically from the outset, Casagemas became obsessed with Germaine and executed a substantial number of portraits of her, many of which have most certainly been lost. Here we exhibit a total of four, showing different postures and techniques.

Like most artists of his time, Casagemas went to Paris, although his sojourn there lasted barely three months. He went there in the company of Picasso in the autumn of 1900 and the two friends occupied the flat vacated by Isidre Nonell, who introduced them to three French girls, one of whom was Germaine. Casagemas made contacts with the colony of Catalan artists; he met his first dealers and managed to sell a few works. Towards mid December, however, he and Picasso returned to Barcelona. For New Year they went to Málaga, where they would remain until the end of January 1901. After an argument with Picasso, the latter went to Madrid to set what had initially to be a joint project in motion: the journal Arte Joven. During the second week of February Casagemas went to Madrid to join in the project, but by now there was to be no reconciliation with Picasso. That same month he returned to Paris and it was there in a restaurant that, having first attempted to kill Germaine, he committed suicide by firing a bullet into his skull. The city which for Picasso would mark the beginning of a brilliant career marked the end for Casagemas.

6.1. Montmartre / El carrer (The Street)

Despite Casagemas’s legendary links with Paris, the city’s impact on his oeuvre was minimal due to the short time he stayed there, coupled with his personal circumstances. The Parisian influence is pre-existing and the works he executed there are merely testimonial in what is essentially a Barcelonan oeuvre. Casagemas painted above all Montmartre cityscapes and portraits of Germaine, together with other pieces which have been lost.

6.2. Parella de vells (Old Couple) / Cafè d’Espanya

Casagemas was in Málaga for one month at most, though his mental state worsened by the minute. It was there that he executed the sanguine Parella de vells, coinciding with a number of very similar works by Picasso. Both had taken as their point of reference the España Negra (Black Spain) of Regoyos and Verhaeren and sought to begin a similar project in Madrid, although the idea came to nothing in Málaga. The sketch Cafè d’Espanya was executed during a night out in the city at the café of the same name.

1880

September 28: Carles Antoni Cosme Damià Casagemas Coll is born on Carrer Conde del Asalto, Barcelona, the son of Manuel Casagemas Labrós and Neus Coll Vendrell and the youngest of seven children, the rest being Josefa, Mercedes, Joan, Joana, Lluïsa and Manuel.

1896-1898

He trains at Fèlix Urgellès’s stage design workshop and, possibly, with Modest Urgell. He paints Marina (Seascape), one of his first works. He establishes contacts with the Colla del Safrà (Saffron Group), above all with Joaquim Mir and Isidre Nonell. He paints El mercat (The Market), under the influence of Mir.

He sets up a studio at no. 57, Carrer Conde del Asalto. Here, literary soirées are held and ‘fried’ drawings are executed. He produces one of his first ‘fried’ drawings, Pastor pirinenc (Pyrenean Shepherd), influenced by Nonell.

A suicide attempt, according to an account by Manolo Hugué.

June 1897: The tavern-cum-exhibition hall Els Quatre Gats is opened. Casagemas becomes a regular visitor to the venue.

May 1898: He enrols at the Infantry Academy, where he sits French and drawing examinations.

December 1898: His father dies.

1899

Beginning–or intensification– of his relationship with Picasso, who executes numerous portraits of him.

May 11: The journal Quatre Gats publishes his poems El llamp and Les il·lusions.

June: He is awarded one of the prizes for the puppet shows organised by Els Quatre Gats for the piece Lo gat perdut, which is performed at the venue.

Together with Ramon Pichot, he paints the curtain for the Els Quatre Gats puppet theatre.

1900

From January to the autumn, Casagemas and Picasso share a studio at no. 17, Carrer Riera de Sant Joan.

Exhibition at Els Quatre Gats of the poster he entered for the 1900 Carnival contest organised by the journal Pèl i Ploma.

A period of convalescence in Sitges, where he awaits a visit by Picasso.

January 21: The daily L’Eco de Sitges publishes his poem Amor gris.

February: He and Picasso are awarded second prize in the Carnival poster competition.

March 26 – April 10: One-man exhibition of drawings at Els Quatre Gats.

July 26: The journal Joventut publishes his poem Somni.

End of July: Along with other artists, Picasso possibly among them, he exhibits a total of four works (two parades and two musical cafés) at Els Quatre Gats.

End of July – beginning of August: At Els Quare Gats he exhibits his portrait of Pompeu Gener as the Count-Duke of Olivares.

End of September – October: First sojourn in Paris with Picasso. Having occupied a succession of studios, they finally settle at no. 49, Rue Gabrielle, the studio that Isidre Nonell had abandoned when he left Paris. Contacts with the Catalan colony. Casagemas meets Germaine Gargallo through Nonell. He becomes immediately obsessed with her and executes a number of portraits. He paints the oils Montmartre and Carrer de París.

November: Casagemas and Picasso receive their first visit from the dealer Pere Mañach. Manuel Pallarès comes to Paris, entrusted by Casagemas’s mother with the mission of taking care of her son.

Mid December: Casagemas and Picasso return to Barcelona to spend Christmas.

New Year: They celebrate the New Year in Málaga, because Picasso needs money from his uncle Salvador in order to be granted exemption from military service. They stay at the Hostal Tres Naciones.

1901

January: They join in the nightlife of Málaga and Casagemas executes his Cafè d’Espanya. Obsessed with Germaine, he sends her letters from Málaga. He begins to drink heavily and, after an argument, he breaks off his relationship with Picasso.

January 28: Picasso leaves Casagemas behind in Málaga and travels alone to Madrid to begin what was intended to be their joint project, the journal Arte Joven. Casagemas returns to Barcelona.

February 7: He arrives in Barcelona. Instead of returning to Paris, he goes to Madrid, although he fails to make amends with Picasso. He returns to Paris.

February 14-15: Arrival in Paris. He moves into Manuel Pallarès’s studio at no. 130, Boulevard de Clichy, together with Manolo Hugué, who has just come to the city.

February 17: To celebrate his imminent return to Barcelona, he invites his friends (Pallarès, Manolo and Alexandre Riera) and the two girls (Germaine and Odette) to supper at the Hippodrome restaurant. At the ends of the supper, having severely rebuked Germaine, he gives her seven letters and fires a shot at her, but misses. Believing he has killed her, he shoots himself in the temples and is rushed to the Bichat Hospital, where he dies in the Jarjavay ward at eleven that night. He is buried at the Saint-Ouen cemetery, París. According to Le Matin, one of the seven letters was to apologise to the prefect of police, while the remaining six were for ‘friends who lived in Paris and Madrid’.