20th Century Spanish

Antoni Cumella was a key ceramist in twentieth century Spanish arts. Born into a family dedicated to handcrafts, his stepfather was a potter who taught the young Cumella his trade. By 1928 he was already creating his first works and experimenting with enamels and he then went on to take a number of courses in Art History and Ceramics.

Two events during this early period were to mark his future approach to art: firstly, his discovery of the work of Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) and, secondly, his visit to the Barcelona 1929 World Expo, where he was particularly fascinated by the project by Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) for the German Pavilion and the sculpture of Manolo Hugué (1872-1945).

In the following years he entered into contact with Catalan intellectual and artistic circles and became friends with the ceramist and art critic Josep Llorens Artigas (1892-1980). In 1935 he had his first teaching experience and then one year later, in 1936, he had his first solo show at Galeries Syra in Barcelona. That same year he won the Gold Medal at the Milan Triennial. He then travelled to Paris with a scholarship from the Generalitat but he returned to Catalonia shortly afterwards on the outbreak of the Civil War.

In the 1940s his works were exhibited on several occasions in Barcelona and Madrid. Around this time, he was also directly involved in re-activating the Catalan cultural world, particularly in his hometown of Granollers, where he lent his support to young artists. Worth mentioning in that regard is his role in cementing the study of design and the decorative arts in Catalonia, where he was one of the founders of the FAD (Fomento de las Artes Decorativas) art school.

The 1950s brought critical recognition both in Spain and abroad. In 1951 he won a Gold Medal in Milan for the second time and began to show his work in many exhibitions in cities around Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France and the United States.

Apart from the medals he won in the Milan triennials, he was also distinguished with the award of the Association of Critics of Barcelona (1974), Spain’s National Visual Arts Award (1980) and the Sant Jordi Cross (1982).

Also worth underscoring are his architecture-related commissions, like the mural works he created for the Spanish Pavilion in New York (1964) as well as Sociedad Sandoz (1972) and Mutua General de Seguros (1978) in Barcelona which, beyond their ornamental value, also give a good account of his architectural understanding. This specific use of ceramics led to further research that resulted in serialised works created with the German company Rosenthal, an activity that was brought to a sudden end by his death in 1985.