EUSEBI ARNAU MASCORT (Barcelona, 1864 - 1933).
Modernist chimney breast.
Polychrome stucco.
Provenance: Josep Puig i Cadafalch's house, Carrer Provença in Barcelona.
Measurements: 110 x 24 x 30 cm.
May form a set with lot 35047519.
Lateral finial made by Eusebi Arnau for the Barcelona house of the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch (1867-1956). It is a vertical relief with a flat base, entirely covered with figures worked in various levels of relief, some of them even approaching the round figure. It is a representation of a group of nymphs and fauns, embracing and playing, their bodies confused by Arnau's soft modernist forms.
The sculptor Eusebi Arnau trained at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts and was a disciple of José Gamot. From 1887 he continued his studies in Rome, thanks to a scholarship from the La Lonja School. He later furthered his training at the Académie Julian in Paris, exhibiting his works at the Salon in the French capital in 1895 and 1902. He later opened his own studio in Barcelona, where he had pupils such as Pablo Gargallo and Josep Dunyach. Arnau carried out numerous commissions, such as the altarpiece for the basilica church of Santa Engracia in Saragossa, where he worked with Josep Llimona. On the other hand, his sculptures applied to architecture made him stand out as a modernist sculptor. Some examples are those made for the Lleó Morera and Amatller houses, the Hotel España, the Palau de la Música Catalana and the Hospital de Sant Pau, all in Barcelona. He was also a regular collaborator of the architect Enric Sagnier Villavecchia, with whom he worked on the Customs building at the Port of Barcelona, the Casa Ruper Garriga, the Via Crucis of Montserrat, the Expiatory Temple of the Sacred Heart, the parish church of the Sacred Heart in Poblenou, the Caixa de Pensions agency in Reus and other projects. He also excelled as a medallist, producing, among others, the medal for the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exhibition, the Catalan Solidarity medal, the Columbus Centenary medal and the medal commemorating the demolition of Barcelona's city walls. Throughout his life, Arnau took part in numerous exhibitions both in Spain and in Chicago, Mexico City and Paris. He was awarded a bronze medal at the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1888, an honorary diploma at the Fine Arts Exhibition in the same city in 1891, and a prize at the 1896 Exhibition; an honourable mention for sculpture at the National Exhibition in Madrid in 1899, a first-class medal for decorative arts at the National Exhibition in 1908, a gold medal from the Artistic Circle of Barcelona at the International Art Exhibition in 1911, and a third-class medal at the National Exhibition in 1912. Today we can find public monuments by Arnau in Barcelona, Madrid and Villafranca, and other works by him in Barcelona, Comillas and Zaragoza. He is also represented in the National Art Museum of Catalonia.