Catalan artists in the universities of Argentina and Chile in the early twentieth century

Abstract

This paper considers the artistic relationships between Catalonia and America during the first half of the twentieth century, focusing on a group of sculptors from Barcelona that settled in Buenos Aires and Santiago. They undertook public sculpture but were also university professors, teaching younger generations. In spite of having been important figures in their intellectual and cultural contexts, these artists remain relatively unknown in Spain —some, enterely so—. The article aims to show how these artists exported their knowledge and skills abroad and how they applied these to their professional tasks in both art and education. In a crucial moment in history, when migration and modernization became two major aspects in Catalan-American relationships, the work of these artists is particularly interesting. This paper provides new insight into their contribution to the development of both contemporary sculpture and American university systems, which has not been studied until now.