The exhibition Sebastià Gasch: fifty years of avant-garde pays homage to Gasch's illustrious career. Commissioned by Foment de les Arts Decoratives (FAD) at EINA, it was held at the institution's former headquarters on Brusi Street in Barcelona from 22 June to 16 July 1976.
Alicia Núñez, Xavier Olivé, Carlos Pazos, and Albert Ràfols Casamada designed and curated the event, with the collaboration of Anna Díaz-Plaja.
Exhibition catalogue.
Born in 1897, Sebastià Gasch was a Catalan art critic, writer, and journalist. He was noteworthy for his enthusiastic defence of everything new and avant-garde in art, music, dance, cinema, theatre, the circus, and paratheatrical arts through posters and hundreds of articles and reviews published in magazines of the era such as La veu de Catalunya, L'amic de les arts, La publicidad, El mirador, D'ací i d'allà, and the weekly Destino, among others. The tribute by the FAD was held on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Gasch's first article in the Gaseta de las artes, which he dedicated to a young Joan Miró.
A life-size shadowgraph of Sebastià Gasch's silhouette was installed at the entrance to the exhibition. To achieve the effect, a backlight illuminated the cut-out wooden silhouette and projected it onto a canvas that functioned as a screen. The back of the silhouette represented Sebastià Gasch's portrait with a boater hat and a walking stick. The same image was used as the poster for the exhibition and on the envelope that contained the catalogue.
White canvas backdrops transformed the FAD headquarters into a theatre. The montage evoked a town festival marquee or circus tent. The path through the exhibition was formed by a maze built with blown up photographs reproducing the press articles, documents, and portraits of the artists highlighted in the publications. Each aisle evoked a different theme: art, dance and flamenco, music hall, the circus, and puppet shows.
Art
A yellow path led visitors towards the Manifest Groc of 1928 signed by Dalí, Lluís Montanyà, and Sebastià Gasch, which garnered widespread recognition and was reproduced in various avant-garde magazines and newspapers of the era, producing fierce criticism from the Catalan media at the time.
The exhibition also emphasized Gasch's relationship with Federico García Lorca and showcased a number of the author's drawings.
L'amic de les arts group (Sitges, 1927). From left to right, Manel Font, J.V. Foix, Sebastià Gasch, Lluís Muntanya, Josep Carbonell, Federico García Lorca, Salvador Dalí, and M.A. Casanyes.
Gasch actively participated in creating the art and literature magazine L'amic de les arts (1926-1929), as well as in founding ADLAN (1932).
Over his lifetime, Gasch published many works, including: La pintura catalana contemporània in 1937, one of the first reflections on contemporary and avant-garde art in Catalonia during the Second Republic; L’expansió de l’art català al món in 1953; El expresionismo (Ediciones Omega) in 1955; La pintura abstracta (Sagittarius) in 1957; a biography of Joan Miró (Alcides) in 1963; and a biography on Tàpies in 1971.
The Music hall and musical cafés
In the aisle dedicated to music hall, the vedettes and singers were represented by Raquel Meller, Mistinguett, Mercedes Serós, Josephine Baker, Bella Dorita, and others. The hall came to an end at a staircase, an essential piece for the final apotheosis of the magazines.
The staircase was transformed into a showcase as the steps were displayed with glass-covered autographs by vedettes from the Museum of Performing Arts of Barcelona.
Sebastià Gasch dedicated several books to this theme. Gasch published Barcelona de nit: el món de l'espectacle with illustrations by Grau Sala (Selecta) in 1957; La historia del music-hall (G.P.) in 1962; Les nits de Barcelona (Pórtic) in 1969; and El Molino: memorias de un setentón (Dopesa) in 1972.
Flamenco
Vicente Escudero and Carmen Amaya. Photographs by Colita.
The part of the exhibit dedicated to flamenco consisted of a hallway decorated with red carnations showcasing portraits of Gasch's favourite artists: la Argentina, Pastora Imperio, Vicente Escudero, Carmen Amaya (whom he discovered when she was a child), La Chunga, Antonio Gades, and more.
Gasch published De la danza (Barna) with illustrations by Pere Pruna in 1946. Dance was widely represented by photographs of Jeux d'Enfants (1933), Sergei Diaghilev's Russian ballet with a backdrop and decorations and costumes by Joan Miró.
Alexandra Denisova, Raissa Kouznetsova, Yura Lazovsky, Boris Belsky, and artists with the Jeux d'Enfants company (1932).
The exhibit also paid tribute to Vaslav Nijinsky, Serge Lifar, and the maestro Joan Magrinyà.
Circus
Gasch published El Circo y sus figuras (Barna) with illustrations by Emili Grau Sala in 1947. In 1957, he travelled with the Circo Americano. His book El Circo por dentro (Destino) arose from this tour.
A portrait of Charlie Rivel presided over the exhibition aisle dedicated to the circus, to whom Gasch dedicated his 1962 book Charlie Rivel, pallasso català (Alcides). Another prominent photograph showed Alexandre Calder handling figurines from his circus.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Sebastià Gasch himself and featured prominent figures from the world of art and culture such as Joan Miró, Mary Sampere, Josep Lluís Sert, and Joaquim Gomis.
També van assistir Joan Miró i José Corredor Matheos acompanyats pels comissaris de l'exposició.
The photo reportage was done by Ferran Freixa.
Postcard inviting guests to the awards ceremony. Photograph by Manel Esclusa.
In order to pay ongoing tribute to Gasch, the Sebastià Gasch Awards for the Paratheatrical Arts, Cabaret, Circus, Dance, and Flamenco were created in 1976 and have been awarded annually by the FAD since then. The jury was chaired by Joan Brossa in its inaugural year.
The first trophies were designed by Xavier Olivé and consisted of a glass bell with a small violet vase holding a bouquet of cloth violets. Some of the winners also performed during the awards ceremony.
