P0135

Fragment of the mural “Galeries Laietanes”

Ref Num.: P0135

Date: ca. 1915

Typology: Painting

Technique: Tempera transferred to canvas

Dimensions: 86 x 73 cm

Signed: Unsigned and undated

Barcelona, Gudiol collection

Santiago Segura, the owner of the Galeries Laietanes, commissioned Xavier Nogués to paint the murals for the basement bar, El Celler, where the noucentista artists would meet. These paintings, on wine-related themes, were detached from the walls by the restorer Ramon Gudiol in 1945. The murals were split into thirty-nine fragments (most of them now at the MNAC) but some were purchased at auction by the architect and art historian Josep Gudiol Ricart.

Curiously, this fragment is not mentioned in the catalogue for the Nogués retrospective exhibition held at the Palau de la Virreina in March 1967. It is from the same series as the men standing under the arches and its style and colour ties in with the other decorative elements from the iconic bar.

It is still owned by the Gudiol family, to whom we are extremely grateful for allowing us to include it in our catalogue of the artist’s works. Image rights: Dani Rovira.

–

J. Barbeta, A. Casanovas, M. Gil and C. Vidal, Exposición Xavier Nogués, Barcelona 1873-1941, Palacio de la Virreina, March-April 1967, Ayuntamiento de Barcelona, Museos de Arte, Barcelona, 1967.