Josep Clarà

Who was Josep Clarà?

Josep Clarà i Ayats was a Spanish Catalan sculptor.

Clarà was born in Olot, Gerona, Spain in 1878. He attended the Olot School of Drawing with professor Josep Berga i Boix. During Clarà's time at the school, Joaquín Vayreda highly praised one of Clarà's drawings; this greatly encouraged Clarà's artistic endeavors and was one of his happiest childhood memories. In 1897, Clarà enrolled in the School of Fine Arts in Toulouse, France. He moved to Paris in 1890, where he met Auguste Rodin, which caused him to pursue sculpture. He also became close friends with sculptor Arístides Maillol. He was a student of Louis-Ernest Barrias. His sketches of dancer Isadora Duncan's distinct movements stand out among Clarà's work. After Duncan's death in 1927, Antonia Mercé instead served as Clarà's model. Clarà's training was capped off with travels to London and Italy.

He returned to Paris, where he distinguished himself as a sculpture. A part of "mediterraneísmo", his work was figurative, solid, and compact. He put on numerous exhibitions of his work in Paris, London, Berlin, and Barcelona. In 1932, he moved permanently to Barcelona. There he continued working and exhibiting until his death on November 4, 1958. His last sculpture was "Estática".