The art of twentieth century and the discredit of Modernisme
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Plate. Josep Jordi Guardiola i Bonet and Lluís Diví. Esplugues de Llobregat, 1928. MCD 63.966. Photo: Guillem Fernández-Huerta
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Armchair Model GATCPAC. Barcelona, 1936. MADB 136.916. Photo: Estudio Rafael Vargas
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Folding screen The Creation, Barcelona, 1929. Ramon Sarsanedas and Francesc d'A. Galí. MADB 135.344. Photo: Gasull
While Modernisme had been forged in the intellectual and artistic circles with a desire to modernize a culture and integrate into Europe, Noucentisme (twentieth century-ism) despite defaming Modernisme and nineteenth-century individualism, fulfilled with its institutionalizing aims some of the cultural proposals of the Modernists. Such is the case with the artistic industries, artistic trades or fine trades, as they were called, which established a connection between the two movements and continued to trace the path of design culture, making clear the social value of art. The objective was to work for the national identity, for a Catalan art with Mediterranean roots that embellished the city through the good practice of the fine trades. In today’s words, put design to work for identity.
In spite of everything, Gaudí, and especially the large Sagrada Família construction company, coincided with the dominant ideology of noucentist catalanism, which Torras i Bages had defined in La tradició catalana in 1892, reissued, though, in 1906