PERE PRUNA OCERANS (Barcelona, 1904 - 1977).
"Eva", 1940.
Oil on panel.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
Work reproduced in "Pere Pruna. Pintor mediterrani: 1904-1977", pg.130. Published by Sitges Town Council, 2004.
Measurements: 199 x 70 cm; 203 x 74 cm (frame).
The biblical Eve is transfigured by the work and art of Pere Pruna into a modern woman, a nymph proud of having tasted the forbidden fruit. In this imposing painting, the naked body of the "first woman" is unashamedly displayed, overturning the long tradition of repentant, wealthy Eves covering themselves and their nakedness. But, curiously enough, that tradition is also present in this painting, because the author probably wanted to dialogue with them: Dürer, Cranach.... The slender waist and beautifully turned limbs culminate in a defiant face with raised eyebrows and closed eyelids. The lips are set alight with lipstick, and long hair flows over the smooth bust.
A mainly self-taught artist, Pere Pruna completed his training at the School of Fine Arts in Barcelona. After beginning to exhibit in Barcelona when he was still very young, he travelled to Paris in 1921, where he was helped and guided by Picasso. In the French capital he held a successful one-man show at the Galerie Percier, and came into contact with intellectuals such as Cocteau, Drieu la Rochelle, Max Jacob and others, with whom he founded the magazine "Philosophie" in 1924. Serge Diaghilev, who visited one of his exhibitions, also asked him to create the sets and costumes for the ballet "Les matelots" in 1925. From then on, he also worked on other musical works, such as "La vie de Polichinele" (1934) and "Oriane" (1938), among others. In 1928 he won second prize in the Carnegie Institute exhibition in Pittsburg and later, on his return to Barcelona, he won other awards such as the "Montserrat seen by Catalan artists" competition (1931) and the Nonell Prize (1936). The latter was surrounded by controversy, because Pruna won it for his oil painting "El vi de Chios", for which he used a photograph published in a Parisian pornographic magazine as a model. In response to the uproar, Pruna withdrew the prize, but the jury upheld its decision. Following the outbreak of the Civil War, Pruna settled in Paris and continued his international exhibition activity, most notably the exhibition organised in London in 1937. At the same time he worked for Ridruejo's propaganda services, with works such as the poster commemorating the promulgation of the Labour Force, and Eugenio d'Ors, National Head of Fine Arts, introduced him to the Spanish representation at the Venice Biennale in 1938. After the war he combined easel painting exhibitions with mural painting, a genre in which his work in the Monastery of Montserrat was particularly celebrated. In 1965 he won the City of Barcelona Prize, and three years later he was appointed academician of the Far de Sant Cristòfor. Pere Pruna is currently represented in the Museum of Montserrat, where there is a space named after him, the MACBA in Barcelona and the Maricel Museum in Sitges, among others.