Mariano Andreu

Who was Mariano Andreu?

Mariano Andreu was a Spanish painter, drawer, enamelling master, sculptor, and stage designer.

He was born in Barcelona in 1888 and lived his early childhood above the "Circo Barcelonés" in the Calle Montserrat. Early on he was affiliated to the "Noucentistes" movement, named by his friend Eugenio d'Ors. He studied in London under Alexander Fisher an enamaller of the Central Arts & Crafts School in London. Returning to Barcelona Andreu made one of the world's largest enamels, the triptych "L'Orb" using contemporary enamelling techniques of the day.

He left Spain for Paris, with his wife Philomene Stes, he became involved in stage design; he carried out works such as Voleur d'Images, Sonatina for the Opéra-Comique in 1929, La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu for Louis Jouvet's Théâtre de l'Athénée. For the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo he designed costumes and sets for Capriccio Espagnol, which premiered in Monte Carlo in 1939. He designed costumes for the 20th Century Fox film That Lady and the short ballet film Spanish Fiesta.

He was invited to London by John Gielgud to design the sets and costumes for Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing, in 1949.