Exhibitions
Antoni Clavé takes over Barcelona with capital letters
Two venues, Palau Martorell and Reial Cercle Artístic, host a large exhibition to enjoy the creative universe of Antoni Clavé.
On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the death of Antoni Clavé (Barcelona, 1913 – Saint-Tropez, 2005), the Palau Martorell is hosting a large retrospective dedicated to the Catalan artist. The exhibition is possible thanks to the collaboration of the Joan Gaspar gallery and the Archive Clavé, which join efforts to vindicate and disseminate the work of one of the most international creators of the post-war period.
This new exhibition, Antoni Clavé with capital letters , is curated by Aude Hendgen, head of the Antoni Clavé Archives in Paris, and José Félix Bentz, co-founder of the Palau Martorell and president of the Reial Centre Artístic. The exhibition is spread across two spaces: the Palau Martorell and the Reial Cercle Artístic, which bring together more than eighty outstanding pieces from public and private collections. In addition, the ticket also grants access to the Clavé Rooms of the Palau de la Generalitat, where part of the artist's legacy is preserved.
Antoni Clavé, À Antoni Gaudì, 1968 ©️ Antoni Clavé, VEGAP, Barcelona, 2025.
From September 5 to November 16, more than 80 works will be presented, some of them previously unpublished. This is the first major exhibition of this magnitude dedicated to Clavé since the 1996 exhibition organized by La Pedrera.
Antoni Clavé is considered one of the key figures of Catalan and Spanish art of the 20th century, a creator who embodies the ideal of the total artist. His work, marked by an unmistakable footprint, has left a deep and indisputable mark on the history of contemporary art. His career is characterized by an inexhaustible curiosity and a talent capable of overflowing any disciplinary limit: painting, engraving, sculpture, poster design, theatrical sets and costumes, all these languages came together in a singular, intense and absolutely personal plastic universe.
He acquired the first foundations of this journey in Barcelona, his hometown, where he received a solid academic education and absorbed the creative concerns and tensions that were stirring the artistic scene of the time. This initial background allowed him to develop his own language, which would later evolve decisively as a result of his exile and his settlement in Paris after the Civil War.
Antoni Clavé, Strange Instrument VIII, 1980 ©️ Antoni Clavé, VEGAP, Barcelona, 2025.
It is in the French capital that Clavé definitively establishes himself as an artist of international projection. The effervescent and cosmopolitan post-war Paris offers him a framework for dialogue and confrontation with the avant-garde, while consolidating his recognition in the global artistic panorama. His work, the result of constant research and a deep commitment to creation, reflects both his life experience and a desire for timeless expression that transcends fashions and trends.
In this sense, Clavé's work can not only be read as a privileged witness to his time —marked by historical convulsions, exiles and radical changes in 20th century art—, but also as a universal contribution that appeals to expressive force and creative freedom in its purest form.
At the Palau Martorell, under the curatorship of Aude Hendgen, five thematic sections have been organized that cover the period from the 1930s to the 1990s, with Barcelona, Paris, Venice, Tokyo, Osaka, Hakone and New York as the main settings. At the Reial Cercle Artístic, under the curatorship of José Félix Bentz, a more multifaceted Clavé is presented, marked by constant experimentation.
