Ramon Calsina - Misèries humanes (Human Miseries)
By Charlotte Stace
A new exhibition at Fundacio Vila Casas brings renewed attention to the work of Ramon Calsina i Baró (Barcelona, 1901–1992), a key figure in 20th-century Catalan art whose career unfolded on the fringes of mainstream movements.
The exhibition focuses especially on his drawings, and illuminates the most disconcerting aspects of his art, which offer a reflection on both the virtues and vices of human nature. His drawings critique social ills ranging from gender-based violence and war, to systemic crises presented through a unique lens. His style, shaped by the Catalan pictorial tradition yet influenced by avant-garde currents of the 1930s, positions him between two worlds - considered too radical by traditional artists and too conservative by the avant-garde. Even so, with the passage of time, his drawings are still relevant today, both in form and substance.