Julio González (, 1876 - París, 1942)

(…) Sculptural forms are created through the marriage between matter and space, they are obtained or suggested by the established points or perforations so that they are confused and make one and the other, the body and the spirit, inseparable.

Julio González was born in Barcelona in 1876. Until 1900 he worked for his father's silversmith's workshop and attended the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona with his brother Joan. From the end of the nineteenth century the González brothers progressively frequented the intellectual and artistic circles of Barcelona, becoming friends with Picasso among other artists. Julio González Julio González and his work La mujer ante el espejo. decided to move to in 1900, where he slowly joined the social circle of artists like Pablo Gargallo, , Manolo Hugué, Max Jacob and Jaime Sabartés. This city significantly marked his artistic vocation and received his work with great interest. His search for an abstract expressionism is present in all his work, which reaches maturity during the twenties and thirties.

In 1907 González exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants and in 1909 at the Salon de Automne, spaces where he would continue to show his work regularly in the following years. During this period he frequented Brancusi and Modigliani, artists who, in addition to becoming friends, had an early impact on his work and his vision of artistic practice. From 1918 he worked for a few years in Renault's workshop, where he learned the technique of autogenous welding. Later he would use this technique to make iron sculptures. In 1922 he held his first individual exhibition at the Galerie Povolozky. From 1928 to 1931 he collaborated with . Together they produced the well-known Femme Au Jardin (Sculpture Monument to Apollinaire), a sculpture that is currently part of the collection of the Reina Sofia National Museum, Madrid. As Císar Casabán explains1, during this period his work went through a profound transition; he worked intensely on the creation of masks and heads, which initiated a new sculptural language. This new language or aesthetic is based on the construction of complex wrought-iron, cut out structures. With them he would compose forms in which space stays trapped.

In his work, the relationship between modernity and tradition was one of constant tension, but it is a fruitful tension that affected him on different levels, including the technical one.

1 Císar Casabán, C, “Amanecer poético” (en) Doñate, M, Ciscár Casabán, C, Comadira, N., Julio González [cat. exp]. Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña/Museo Reina Sofía. Madrid, 2009.

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As the critic Tomás Llorens2 observed, Gonzalez was a craftsman, who did not cease to be involved in industrial work, where the anvil and the hammer were allied with autogenous welding. His solid artisan training, drawing and painting constituted a base that he would never abandon and allowed him to assimilate disparate avant-garde influences. Considered the father of iron sculpture, he shaped his style in his desire to incorporate space and time into his work and in the search for the purest plasticity.

Broadly speaking, it is understood that the modern tradition of sculpture began with Rodin and Julio González, was consolidated with Picasso and Matisse, and found a firm path with Moore, Calder, Smith, Chillida and a long list of other 20th century sculptors. In 1936 he took part of the exhibition " and Abstract Art" at the MOMA, New York, and in 1937 of the Spanish Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Paris. In 1937 he moved to Arcueil, near Paris, where he died in 1942. His work is part of numerous collections, with a large number of pieces brought together at the Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, which from 1985 is also named Centre Julio González, in Honour of the artist.

2 Llorens, T., Julio González en la colección del IVAM. [cat.exps Valencia, 2007.

@galeriaelviragonzalez @galeriaelviragonzalez @GalElviraGonzal