Ramón Casas (1866-1932)

Born into a wealthy Catalan family, the Spanish painter Ramón Casas first studied under Joan Vicens Cots (1830–1886). Early in 1881, Casas published one of his drawings in the Barcelonan magazine L’Avenç, and later that year he moved to Paris. There he enrolled in the atelier of the acclaimed artist Carolus-Duran (1837-1917) and studied at the Académie Gervex. Casas' early efforts in Paris received a lukewarm reception from critics who were underwhelmed by his work's sketchy luminous qualities; it was deemed too avant-garde.

His main period of work began in 1890, when he returned to Paris with his close friend, painter and writer Santiago Rusinõl (1861-1931). They lived with Miquel Utrillo (1862–1934) at the Moulin de la Galette in Montmartre. Finding inspiration from his surroundings, the themes of Casas' paintings focused on views of suburban Paris and interiors with one or two usually female figures. Using a grey-toned palette, he endeavored to reveal in his compositions the poetry and beauty that he found in his ordinary surroundings. In Paris and Barcelona, Casas also established a reputation for producing beautiful society portraits that show the effects of his study with Carolus-Duran and the influence of Anders Zorn (1860-1920) and John Singer Sargent (1856-1925). When he exhibited the Parisian paintings in Barcelona at in 1890 and 1891, the critics praised his ‘modernism.’ Quickly, the term became synonymous with Casas and a new generation of Catalan artists who met at Els Quatre Gats café in Barcelona (1897–1903), which Casas established. He was one of the principal painters associated with modernismo, a primarily literary and intellectual movement tied to Catalan nationalist aspirations. This relationship helped foster the success that Casas enjoyed during the turn-of-the century among Catalan’s bourgeoisie.

After several years in Paris, Casas returned to Barcelona where his paintings were journalistic in subject matter. Most importantly, his female figures became a prototype for Catalan women of the time. His acclaim increased when he published a large group of charcoal portrait drawings of many of Barcelona’s most influential intellectuals and artists in his magazines Quatre gats (1899) and Pel & ploma (1899–1903). Critics also celebrated his graphic design and commercial posters which incorporated elements of Art Nouveau into Barcelona's modernismo movement. 

Casas' oeuvre demonstrates his expressive technique that unites quick charcoal sketching with subtle colors to portray the sitter’s character. He and his work made a direct impact on the younger generation of artists such as Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) and Joaquín Torres-Garcia (1874-1949) who were working in Barcelona around 1900. His work places him in the context of the most revered late nineteenth-century European artists, and reveals how his modern techniques and subject matter broke with tradition to stimulate the next generation of Spanish artists whose art was truly revolutionary.