Barcelona, City of Art Nouveau Isabel Segura Soriano, Doctor in History, Barcelona

Barcelona, like Nancy, made its fortunes out of the textile industry. Barcelona had become industrialised and the Industrial Revolution in Barcelona, and throughout Catalonia, was brought about thanks to female labour.

In the middle of the nineteenth century, the old walled city had become stifled by the walls which had prevented the building of more factories. It wasn’t until 1854 that it was decided to demolish the city walls and a large area of land outside the walls was set aside for the city’s expansion. Before devising his Pla d’Eixample (Expansion Plan) of the City, the Engineer Ildefons Cerdà conducted, what is considered to be, the first sociological study on the living conditions of the working classes. This study explained that in the middle of the nineteenth century in Barcelona, the working classes were divided between 40% women, 40% men and 20% children. Textile was the most important sector of industry and the textile industry at the beginning of the twentieth century was made up of over 80% female labour. If you permit me, I am confident to state that the Industrial Revolution in Barcelona, and throughout Catalonia, was achieved thanks to women

The growth of the City was unstoppable: in 1850 there were one hundred and seventy- five inhabitants; this number increased to some five hundred thousand by 1900. This growth is not only due to organic in nature, but another important factor of this growth of population was the incorporation of some of the villages that were independent of the Barcelona city plan. Another factor was immigration from the rural areas of Catalonia, which became established in the City attracted by the hope of finding better living conditions. Barcelona underwent a process similar to other European and North American cities; the smoke of the factories was confused with the smoke of the trains heading for the city

Whereas the growth in population brought with it overcrowding of the existing living spaces in the Old City, new construction was concentrated mainly in the extension area, the Eixample . The Eixample district the City, set aside as a residential and

1 commercial zone, is where most of the examples of Art Nouveau architecture are to be found. Many women, a very large number of women, were interested in this new architectonic language. They employed and financed the most modern architects to dress their houses for them

One such woman was Àngela Brutau who, in the name of her three daughters, Rosa, Josefa and Àngela Terrades i Brutau, made a planning application to the City Council on the 8 th of January 1904 for the construction of three houses on Avinguda Diagonal which had been commissioned to the Architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch 1. In 1905, construction was started on a building, which linked the three different houses with a unified style and unifying features. The building was named the Casa Terrades (after Brutau’s husband) but was popularly known as “Casa de les Punxes” (the house of spires), eluding to its typical appearance as multi-family housing and owing to it being one of the most striking and largest architectural constructions of the period

On the elevations the galleries stand out with their vertical openings, one of these being crowned by a statue of Sant Jordi (St George) with the inscription in gothic letters proclaiming “Sant Jordi, patró de Catalunya. Torneu-nos la llibertat” ( in Catalan : St Geroge, the patron-saint of Catalonia. Return our freedom to us!). This inscription, situated 30 metres above street level, caused the Architect to be prosecuted; his memoirs give us a picture of the frenetic undertakings (quote in Castilian Spanish):

“…at ten o’clock in the morning, His Excellency Governor lodged his prosecution at the police court; at three o’clock the court attended the location of the “crime” and at ten in the evening, the judge ordered me to plead at the Law Courts… But the house was guarded, it was almost blocked-in by a policial army… We are returning, in effect, to times in which it is subversive to shout ‘long live freedom!’” 2

A question arises from this inscription: whose idea was it? Was it the Architect or the owner? We don’t know the answer to this, but we can say indisputably that it was erected with the consent of Mrs Brutau, who stood by her convictions. These words, at a time when the relationship between Catalonia and the Spanish State were being renegotiated, was a declaration of principles of which Mrs Brutau did not stand on the side-line – she knew perfectly well the consequences could arise from such a declaration. She was a member of the Catalan Aristocracy which pushed for the freedom of Catalonia from a state, the Spanish State, still dominated by what were

2 known as the passive classes, which showed little interest in standing up for the rights of the new emergent class

A number of years before, language had become a sign of identity, and during the final years of the nineteenth century and the first years of the twentieth century, Art Nouveau played the role of a generating element of this identity; first a class identity, of an emergent bourgeoisie which showed off its fast-earned wealth. Later on, Art Nouveau acted as a generating element of a territorial and national identity. Women, not wanting to remain on the sidelines, also adopted this new architectonic language, in which to dress their factories and their homes. They also opted for Art Nouveau culture

If we follow the trail of women who commissioned projects to Art Nouveau Architects, we must talk about the house at Passeig de Gràcia , number 92, which has become one of the most innovative and, at the same time, emblematic buildings in Art Nouveau Barcelona. I am referring, of course, to the Casa Milà , affectionately known as the ‘Pedrera’(the “stone quarry”) 3. The owner of this building was Roser Segimon Artells, who was born in the City of Reus , just like Gaudí, the Architect who she chose to build her house. Roser Segimon Artells inherited an enormous fortune from her first husband, Josep Guardiola, a businessman who had become rich in the Americas in real estate and in import and export and who, in addition, had been a shareholder in the Panama Canal. On becoming a widow, Roser Segmon remarried and this time the lucky gentleman was Pere Milà

Owing to Catalan civil rights, women didn’t share their wealth with their husbands; rather they continued to exercise control over their savings, which they were free to invest where they pleased. This is what happened at the Pedrera - as it came to be affectionately known in the period, and sometimes unaffectionately – isn’t the Casa Milà at all, rather the Casa Segimon , despite this name having almost completely disappeared. Aside from Roser Segimon’s selection of the most innovative architecture of the time - the Pedrera is without doubt the most technologically, typologically and aesthetically innovative building of its time. This is not an isolated case: in 1908, another grand project was started; the construction of the Monumental bullring, still in operation today. On this occasion, the project was commissioned to Ignasi Mas Morell, another Architect whose work can be classified within the Modernisme style (some text missing?...)

3 But Senyora Brutau and Senyora Segimon were not exceptions. Without having made a rigorous analysis, I can risk guessing that of the Art Nouveau houses in the Eixample district of Barcelona, between thirty and forty percent were financed by women. We don’t have any record of female Architects at that time, but we do however have a record of female Technical Architects, one such being Leonor Ferrer, who, in addition to giving technical drawing classes was also the Office Manager of the Societat General de Telèfons (The General Telephone Company), a novelty at the time

Just as important as the external appearance of the facades of Art Nouveau buildings was the interior decoration with textiles, which had to be in harmony with the structural elements: wall-hangings, curtains, towels, accessories and a long etcetera of decorative elements. The textile craft industries had been traditionally dominated by women; they knew the craft-working techniques, and at a time when industrialisation created a incision between craftwork and mass production, various initiatives promoted a new relationship between the fine arts and the craft trades. One of these was the creation of an Indústries Artístiques (Art Industries) section at the Institut de Cultura (The Institute of Culture) and the Biblioteca Popular de la Dona (Popular Women’s Library) 4

The Biblioteca Popular de la Dona was founded in 1909. This was the first public library for women in the whole of Europe and in the following twenty years, it grew in a similar way to other similar libraries that were later founded around Europe, such as the Fawcett Library . Such was the success of this library that a year later the library was converted into an Institute with the aim of offering professional training for women and eventually grew to form a centre promoting cultural excellence, with a strong presence, not only in Barcelona, but also throughout Catalonia, and with the formation of outposts in various places. The Institute was self-financing, partly from the fees of its students, but more importantly from donations. The management team had a great ability to raise private funds, especially from families with abundant economic resources, families from the landed classes, especially with connections to the textile industry. Francesca Bonnemaison, leader and soul of the Institute for many years, under the auspices of the church, increased credibility, raised funds and sometimes even mustered the personal involvement of some women of the Catalan bourgeoisie to fuel her project

An Artistic Industries section was formed at the Institute. This name was given to counteract the dichotomy created between the decorative arts and utilitarianism, two

4 postures based on two ways of conceiving an object; the utilitarian focusing on the world of work, and the artistic on the world of social relations. The Arts and Crafts movement inspired the rethinking of the decorative arts in Europe and America in the final decade of the nineteenth century, opening the door to Art Nouveau and Modern Art with a renewed importance being given to the traditional trades

One of the traditional trades that women had developed was that involving textiles and the Institut , as a rehearsal before setting up a workshop at the school, started an artistic machine-embroidery class on the second of January 1912. The classes and the workshop proved very successful; so much so that they continued working during the Summer on the many orders that were placed. This idea wasn’t a new one; the workshops at the Institut are similar to the workshops that the Arts and Crafts had set up in other European countries, and which also counted on a high level of participation from women, acting as a link between producers and the purchasers who had sufficient money to buy their products

Through its president, Francesca Bonnemaison, the Institut Popular de la Dona formed ties within the first years of its creation with different city entities, all promoting the artistic trades, one such entity being the Foment de les Arts Decoratives (FAD), an institution founded in 1903 and still functioning today. The workshops at the Institut however only lasted a short while. Pressure from some textile businessmen, who accused the Institut of unfair competition, led to the workshops being closed. In spite of all this however, the Institut didn’t stop the teaching of the applied arts, on the contrary.

In Barcelona at the turn of the century, all of the discussions – relating to hygiene, architectural, judicial – focused on establishing the domestic model for women, specifically addressing the role of the women of the bourgeoisie. This is interesting in that whilst the bourgeoisie created a dialogue about domesticity, keeping women in the home and assuming a responsibility as mothers, many women of this social class were stepping over the threshold of their houses, spreading themselves in all directions with their heads held high

Many defiant female voices appreared to challenge and modify the discussion. These set out other models of femininity and proposed a negotiation of gender roles. One good example is Dolors Monserdà, who not only wrote, but also published her novel La Fabricanta (The female factory-owner), an urban novel based at the beginning of the

5 twentieth century. The story depicted the move from an artisan Barcelona to an industrial Barcelona and describes the changes in the urban form of the city as well as the ways of working and the renegotiation of the relationship between the sexes that the move from one system of production to a new one was bringing about. The female factory-owner didn’t want to remain at the edge of these historic events and demanded to be seen and to be socially accepted. Dolors Monserdà was also related to Josep Puig i Cadafalch; she was his daughter-in-law. In fact they lived in the same house at Carrer Provença, which Puig went on to remodel in 1917 in the Noucentista style. Dolors Monserdà lived on the first floor and on the second lived Puig i Cadafalch

There were women factory-owners in Catalonia. One such lady, Tecla Sala, was married to a textile producer. When her husband died, she continued the business, eventually giving it her own name. The factory, in the Manchester style, with abundant Art nouveau adornment, has been conserved to this day under the name Tecla Sala in L’Hospitalet , a town touching on Barcelona, having been converted into an important cultural centre, housing a library and exhibition space. Once her factory business had consolidated, Senyora Tecla Sala also had a block of flats built, which was the work of the Architect Folgueras. It is known as the Sant Jordi (St George) Building and is in the centre of Barcelona, on Carrer Casp and at the edge of Plaça Catalunya

We have stated that women did not want to remain on the sidelines of the political and social project of the ruling classes to modernise the society and the State. They produced their own dialogue and they created opinion. In order to achieve this, they used the new means of communication that the technological revolution had brought about. Here we are referring to periodical publications, and specifically to the magazine Feminal , which was launched in 1907 and had a long life-span right upto 1917. The Feminal , edited by Carme Karr, made a number of proposals with a view to informing, conforming and legitimising a model for women, which was based on keeping up with the times; these times being no other than modern times

Along with the Feminal , came a new style and a new ethic in women’s magazines. In other words, Carme Karr formed her ethics through a particular style – that of modernity. The central message of the magazine was concentrated in three objectives; the defence of rights of women in education, their choice of profession and, in a second phase, the defence of the civil and political rights of women. The position taken by the Feminal for the professionalisation of women was to campaign for equal access to all professions, and breaking any prejudices that reduced them to limited

6 areas of activity. In addition to this, the magazine also fought against the deplorable working conditions in which a large section of women were subjected, especially those working from home

Images in the Feminal were the most important elements. Photography, more than text, was used to visualise women in professional environments where women had never been seen before and to give weight to their achievements, with the objective of stimulating a dialogue and inciting a change of mentality. The pages were illustrated with drawings, prints and paintings; but above all, photography – a relatively recent invention. Photography had only been invented some fifty years previously and only just in the last couple of years had it been possible to reproduce it for the means of mass communication in long runs and the employment of two dyes produced an attractive colour effect.

Architecture, as a generator of discussion and imagination, was given a pride of place in the magazine An example of this is the “Barcelona’s Interiors” section, which was profusely illustrated with photographs of the interiors of diverse homes, decorated and inhabited by the “ladies of the house”: halls, vestibules, dining rooms, studies, music rooms, billiard rooms, offices, galleries, corridors etcetera… The diversity of dwellings demonstrated the new bourgeois taste for diversification in the different spaces of the house according to their function. The mono-functional spaces of the bourgeois house indicate to us the process of classification and hierarchical order, also sexualised, between the domestic space; a place where everything had its home to the spaces set aside for each sex and some shared spaces. Through the images, we see Art Nouveau architectural elements, and also furniture, lighting and wall hangings all in harmony with each other. The Feminal magazine payed tribute to the new architecture, to the ‘Art Nouveau’. Corresponding to every Art Nouveau house, there was a woman who, apart from possessing the accepted virtues of beauty, amiability and refinement, she also had to be cultured. An Art Nouveau woman is a woman who has been educated; it was this magazine who introduced Rosa Rigalt, the lady of the Palau Macaya (the work of Puig i Cadafalch in 1901), who said that ethics and aesthetics were represented by “ les excel·lències modernistes” (Art Nouveau excellence) 5

In a magazine where the image is so important, the space set aside for the women- illustrators was also important. Lluïsa Vidal, the first woman to become a professional painter in Catalonia, held a permanent post with the Feminal . Lluïsa Vidal was the

7 daughter of one of the most prestigious Furniture Designers and Interior Decorators in Barcelona at the turn of the century; a kind of Barcelonian William Morris . Already at the age of 22, Lluïsa Vidal was exhibiting at the most well-known spaces in the Catalan territory, particularly at the Quatre Gats : the café, restaurant and exhibition hall where the great Art Nouveau artists were to be found. The best-known names of the period – Casas, Russiñol, etcetera – recognised her professionalism. In fact, we can say that Lluïsa Vidal was one of the first women professionals who lived from her work

Another collaborator of the Feminal magazine was the woman-writer Caterina Albert, better known by the masculine pseudonym of Victor Català. Her novel, Solitud (Solitude) is the the most republished and also most translated work in the Catalan language. Caterina Albert is the writer par excellence of the period bridging the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century

These Art Nouveau women appear in the literary, journalistic and pictorial panorama out of a consciousness to belong to a sex, the female sex. They adhered to the values of feminism and stood by their professions, to push for a construction of modernity where women could not be left on the sidelines; these women wanted to occupy the centre of the debate, the focus of imagination, and to be represented

(Translated from Catalan by Robin Williams BSc MA MSc )

1 Arxiu Administratiu de Barcelona, Issue 9548, 1903 2 J. Puig i Cadafalch Memòries Edition the work of Núria Mañé and Josep Massot i Muntaner. Barcelona 3 Arxiu Administratiu de Barcelona, Issue 10.526, 1905 4 Isabel Segura Soriano Memoria d’un espai. Institut de Cultura i Biblioteca Popular de la Dona 1909- 2003 . Barcelona, Publicacions de l’Abadia de Montserrat, 2007 5 Feminal , Number 8, 24 November 1907

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