Eudald Serra i Güell (Barcelona, 1911 - 2002) “Viejo coreano”   Bronze sculpture. Signed “E. SERRA.” Unique piece. Made in Kobe, circa 1939.   Height: 38 cm.    The piece presented here marks the beginning of what Eudald Serra himself defines as the most significant period of his life: his stay in Japan between 1935 and 1948, which is thoroughly detailed in the study 'The sculptor Eudald Serra in Japan (1935-1948). Notes for an artistic biography' (2019) by Professor Ricard Bru, PhD in Art History from the University of Barcelona. Our work is referenced in this study as a purchase by the Catalan collector Cels Gomis. Unless otherwise indicated, all bibliographical citations in this file come from that source.   Our artist is an artistic descendant of his friend, mentor, and most cherished teacher, Ángel Ferrant, whom he met at the Llotja School. He presented his work for the first time in 1934 in his hometown at the Sala Busquets. This venue would become a key part of his professional life, both from home and for selling work he produced in Japan, as his in-laws were the owners. After traveling around Europe and participating in several exhibitions, where he explored his more surrealist side, Serra traveled to Japan in the summer of 1935 with other students from the University of Barcelona. He would not return to Spain for thirteen years.   Two years later, Serra's sculptures were publicly exhibited for the first time at the Tokyo Museum of Fine Arts (September–October 1937), where Yanagi Ryō, the critic who had enabled him to hold his first solo exhibition in Japan a year later at the Seijūsha Gallery in Tokyo, was present. This initial success followed a challenging beginning in several respects. Politically, the Spanish Civil War broke out. Economically, he lost his job at the consulate due to his associations with Republican circles, leaving him without income and no possibility of returning to Barcelona. Artistically, he had only one Japanese artist contact and felt that he was 'the only sculptor in Kobe.' Personally, a loved one died in early 1936, as Bru explains in his study.   The subsequent years were marked by heightened recognition and economic stability, allowing him to pursue his art as a profession. This situation strengthened beginning in 1939 and persisted alongside a tragic and dramatic period due to news from his country and the social context surrounding him, as large numbers of Koreans emigrated 'forcibly and without resources to take on the hardest jobs in the lowest social strata'. Serra's profound empathy, a vital element in the creation of art, served as the sculptor's main artistic driving force in revealing a Japanese reality far removed from the cliché assumed in Europe. Through her art, Serra transformed the faces and bodies of Koreans into symbols of a people 'subjugated by Japanese imperialist power.'   This tragic view was reflected, according to Bru, in three of his 'most representative and personal works from this early period in Japan [...] the sculptures 'Korean', 'Outcasts' and 'Tree of Guernica'. Three sculptures charged with emotion and modeled, despite their clear formal differences, during the same period,“ a stage ”of creativity and intense artistic work'. It is precisely from these years that we present ”Old Korean' at auction.   Having already established his artistic and personal path in the Land of the Rising Sun, with numerous projects that required him to spend long periods of time in Tokyo and other locations, Eudald Serra was fascinated by Japanese culture in all its forms. He transitioned away from surrealism, exploring new forms of artistic expression in the archipelago. He sought to 'seek new paths to authentic emotion,' as he described.    His close friend Cels Gomis, whom he met in Tokyo in 1939 and with whom he developed a long friendship, soon became one of the main admirers of Eudald Serra's work. He has expressed this on numerous occasions, both verbally and through his acquisitions of pieces for himself and his family in Barcelona, who were equally eager to acquire his work. Around 1943, as explained in Ricard Bru's study, Gomis' parents bought the bronzes “Old Korean Woman” and “Old Korean Man,” the latter undoubtedly being the work we are presenting here, which has remained in the family's private collection ever since.    In short, an initial phase linked to surrealism quickly gave way to a “return to figurative art that Serra experienced during practically his entire stay in Japan,” occasionally flirting with abstraction, with a greater emphasis on the representation of everyday life and always seeking emotion. He later developed a keen interest in ceramics, regarding it as 'equivalent to sculpture and painting, and superior in that, in addition to being a fine art, it possesses a practical application and serves a purpose beyond mere contemplation.' A ceramic work has form, color, and the enormous advantage of the quality of the material, and it can be seen, touched, and even kissed; thus, a cup of tea is brought to the lips.'   Back in Barcelona, “he began to create organic forms that reveal his interest in geometry, material experimentation, and a synthetic conception of art. In 1951, he was awarded the Sculpture Prize at the First Hispanic-American Biennial in Madrid, and six years later, the Grand Prize at the Alexandria Biennial,' according to the Vila Casas Foundation.   Serra created “what is considered to date one of the finest collections of non-European folk art, currently held by the Museu Etnològic and the Fundación Folch, both in Barcelona,” according to Historia Hispánica.   For more information about Serra's stay in Japan and his relationship with Cels Gomis, we recommend reading Ricard Bru's study for Goya magazine.   Provenance: Joaquim Gomis collection. By descendence of his brother Cels Gomis. Reference bibliography: - Arias Esteve, Matilde Rosa. (s.f.). “Eudald Serra i Güell”. Real Academia de la Historia. Historia Hispánica. https://historia-hispanica.rah.es/biografias/42355-eudald-serra-i-guell - Bru, Ricard. (2019). El escultor Eudald Serra en Japón (1935-1948). Apuntes para una biografía artística. Goya, Núm. 366, 2019, Pp. 68-87, (366), 68–87. - Fundació Vila Casas. (s.f.). “Eudald Serra”. https://www.fundaciovilacasas.com/es/obras/eudald-serra