Joaquín Torres-García

Joaquín Torres-García (28 July 1874 – 8 August 1949) was a prominent Uruguayan-Spanish artist, theorist, and author, renowned for his international impact on modern art. Born in Montevideo, Uruguay, he moved with his family to Catalonia, Spain, where his artistic journey began. His career spanned multiple countries, including Spain, United States, Italy, France, and Uruguay. He founded several art schools and groups, including Escola de Decoració (School of Decoration) in Barcelona, Cercle et Carré (Circle and Square) in Paris—the first European abstract-art group, which included Piet Mondrian and Wassily Kandinsky—Grupo de Arte Constructivo (Constructive Art Group) in Madrid, and Taller Torres-García (Torres-García’s Workshop) in Montevideo. Torres-García's legacy is deeply rooted in the revival of classical tradition, which he called Modern Classicism and later Universal Constructivism, believing that all humans share an inherent understanding of geometric art.
Joaquín Torres-García was born on July 28, 1874, in Montevideo, Uruguay, a bustling port city on the edge of the South American Pampas. He was the eldest child of Joaquim Torras Fradera, an immigrant from Mataró, Spain, and María García Pérez. His early years were spent in his father's general store 'Almacén de Joaquín Torres'.
'The picturesque store was situated in the old Square of the Wagons, the arrival point for raw materials destined for export to Europe. Colonial Montevideo had a thriving port, railways, and a vibrant population, dotted with countless gauchos draped in capes, whips in hand.'
''Much of his early education in this predominantly agricultural society came from observing the world around him...'
In 1891, Torres-García's father relocated the family to Spain, where he and his siblings became Spanish citizens. Torres-García studied under a local painter and quickly demonstrated a talent for art. After the family moved to Barcelona, he enrolled in the School of Fine Arts (Escuela de Bellas Artes de Barcelona), the Baixas Academy (Academia Baixas), and the Saint Lluc Artists' Circle.
'Torres-García and Picasso were contemporaries, both beginning their artistic journeys in modern Barcelona, whose vibrant epicenter was the café Els Quatre Gats ...' Classmates included Ricard Canals, Manolo Hugue, Joaquim Mir, Isidre Nonell, Pablo Picasso, and Julio Gonzalez. Torres-García contributed illustrations to the leading newspapers and magazines of the time, including La Vanguardia, Iris, Barcelona Cómica, and La Saeta. His work gained recognition for its distinctive style and sharp artistic sensibility.
In 1900, he faced a personal tragedy with the loss of his father.
Torres-García’s first significant success came with a solo exhibition at the Salon La Vanguardia Gallery. The exhibition drew attention, and Miguel Utrillo wrote a review titled "Joaquín Torres-García, Decorator," which was featured in Pèl i Ploma. The review was accompanied by a portrait of Torres-García by Ramon Casas, photographs of several of his paintings—one of which graced the cover of the magazine—and his first article, "Impressions."
In 1903, Antoni Gaudí commissioned Torres-García to create stained-glass windows for the Palma Cathedral. This project, spanning from 1902 to 1905, became a key event in his career. Torres-García worked on the Cathedral of Palma de Majorca, a Spanish Gothic masterpiece, crafting the lateral stained-glass windows and the small rose window in the apse. His interpretation of Marian symbols – the sun, the moon, the star, the well, the garden, the tower, the temple – were themes he revisited throughout his career. Following this, Torres-García received numerous commissions for murals, including work for the Church of San Agustin, the Church of the Divina Pastora, and the Torre del Campanar house.
Eugenio d'Ors, the originator of the term Noucentisme, lauded the works of Torres-García displayed at the Sala Parés in 1903. He wrote a text for Torres-García's exhibition at the Galeries Dalmau in 1912 and often mentioned his work in 'La Ben Plantada,' a book epitomizing the noucentisme movement. However, Torres-García did not align himself with D'Ors' views. His divergence was evident in two texts he published before the emergence of noucentisme around 1910: "Augusta et Augusta" (1904) and "La nostra ordinacio I el nostre cami" (1907). In classicism, Torres-García sought a model for order, a language, and a cultural reference point that would enable him to transcend realism and develop Catalan art on a universal scale. He eventually distanced himself from noucentista artists like Sunyer, Canals, Aragay, and D'Ors.
In 1907, Torres-García began his teaching career and soon became involved with the experimental school Colegio Mont d'Or, founded by his friend and progressive educator Joan Palau Vera. Breaking away from the conventional academic methods of the time, Colegio Mont d'Or eschewed traditional copy exercises from casts, prints, or books. Instead, drawing lessons were grounded in direct observation of reality, using common household objects, leaves, fruits, fish, flowers, and animals. This approach laid the groundwork for the vocabulary of his Universal Constructivism, emerging as a progressive pedagogical exercise.
Torres-García married Manolita Piña i Rubíes in 1908. The couple had four children who were also notable artists, two girls named Olimpia Torres and Ifigenia and two boys named Augusto Torres and Horacio Torres [es].
Torres-García journeyed to Brussels to undertake a painting project for a pavilion at the Brussels International World Fair. Following this, he spent an extended period in Paris, where he reconnected with friends and explored numerous museums and galleries. During this time, elements of cubism began to appear in his work, aligning with the theories presented in "Du Cubisme," published in 1912. This influence was evident in his art showcased at the 1912 Paris exhibition, organized by the Section d'Or. Additionally, his first visit to Italy and Switzerland introduced him to the principles of futurism.
In 1911, Torres-García showcased his painting 'Philosophy X Musa' at the sixth International Exhibition of Art in Barcelona, subsequently donating it to the Institut d'Estudis Catalans. Since its debut, this work has been consistently recognized by historians as a foundational piece of noucentisme. Later, Torres-García created a second version of this painting, which is now housed in the collection of the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.
In 1912, two exhibitions were held at the Galeries Dalmau: Torres-García (works from his Noucentista period) and Pablo Picasso, with drawings from his Blue Period (February - March 1912). Torres-García published his first book, Notes sobre Art (Notes on Art), in May 1913. In the introduction, he wrote: "Aquestes curtes notes poden tenir interès, demes, per anar estretament lligades, com quelcom de viu, a tot o que arrencant de la nostra tradició, en el pensament i en la realitat, tendeix a formar el ver Renaixement e Catalunya" ("These short essays may be of interest also because they are closely related to, something that is alive, sprung from our tradition, in thought and in reality, to form the true Renaissance of Catalonia"). Torres-García then founded the Escuela de Decoración (School of Decoration/Decorative Arts) in Sarrià. "Prat de la Riba (president of the Council) had then his newly formulated conception of Catalan nationalism, and sees in the Mediterranean tradition proposed a positive content for the national profile, rich in spiritual substance."
Prat de la Riba commissioned Torres-García frescoes for the atrium of the Municipal Palace of Barcelona, a 15th-century Gothic palace and seat of government in Catalonia. During the next five years, he painted four large frescoes and studies for another two. The paintings became the new symbol of the Catalonia noucentista. "In one of the frescoes ... Torres-Garcia represented a gigantic Pan-god with a quote from Goethe's 'Faust' at his feet: 'The temporal is only a symbol'. 'That is the key to all the poetics of Torres-García, the will to surrender to the ephemeral in order to reach eternity,' explained Llorens. For Torres-García, classicism was the door of a better future, not a brake for modernity." Torres-García used iconostatic composition for pagan subjects adapted to modern themes, demonstrating that classicism is not unique to the Greeks. He painted the rhythm of a structure, as he described in "El Descubrimiento de si mismo" and "Evolucionista" (both published in 1917). Torres-García later used the same composition in his constructivist works. He designed, built, and decorated his home in Tarrasa ("Mon Repos") with frescoes, and invited friends and pupils to a housewarming party.
In 1918, "Torres-García can be seen exploring the grid structure,' on the one hand as an inherent characteristic of a modern city and on the other as a form to explore the symbolic potential of everyday motifs. He also explored the potential for language within images, as in the 1916–17 drawing 'Descubrimiento de si mismo (Discovery of Oneself)." He presented an exhibition at Galeries Dalmau of "Joguines d'Art (Artistic Toys)": "The toys teach children which are the correct colors, the correct forms. Each toy is a form, a color that mixes with other shapes and colors and finally becomes a whole: a dog, a car, a city. The toys guide future generations to acquire a natural eye."
In 1919, Torres-García visited the United States: "He determined to take the pulse of the greatest and most modern of cities, New York." "Despite being one of the most important artists of the moment, Torres García did not lull, and in 1920 he went to New York to continue exploring what they called modernity and began to cling to the ephemeral and temporal, what he drew in the city of skyscrapers connects with what John Dos Passos reflected in Manhattan Transfer."
Torres-García visited Paris for a second time with thirty-two crates of paintings after an encounter with his friend Picasso, who advised him to remain there: "Do not to go to America, because it will be like leaping into a void". His work evolved from classicism to Cubism, as Picasso's work did the reverse. Wanting to experience a modern city, Torres-García traveled to New York with the intention of staying for two years. He lived in Manhattan: first on 49th Street, then on 14th Street and finally on West 29th Street. Torres-García continued his series of sketchbooks of the cities he visited, reflecting the city's movement and atmosphere. He painted a series of portraits, including one of Joseph Stella. Torres-García depicted Broadway's cityscape and people. He exhibited at the Whitney Studio gallery and the Society of Independent Artists with Stuart Davis and Stanisław Szukalski in 1922, describing his work as "expressionistic and geometric at the same time, and very dynamic".
Torres-García returned to Italy that year, developing his classic and evolutionistic works. Spain banned the Catalan language, including his writings. During this period, Torres-García's mother died. He settled in Villefranche-sur-Mer in 1925, and had another solo exhibition at Galeries Dalmau in Barcelona the following year.
Torres-García returned to Paris for the third time in 1926, and was a key animator of the interwar abstract movement over the next six years. He exhibited 34 works, a series of large, classical nudes, and paintings from New York at the Galerie A. G. Fabre. "Forty works make up this presentation of Torres-Garcia first exhibit here at Galerie Fabre: frescoes, fragments of large murals, assembled architectural maquettes, still life or figures ... They show the artist under different aspects manifesting all the fiery wealth and complex diversity. Some urban landscapes will give an idea of the passage of Torres-Garcia by New York were a feverish spectacle of the business city captivated some time his artistic inquietude in search of its rhythm. Although he has played a major role in the development of the Mediterranean school, Garcia is bent with such a force towards his personal inclination he has always cleared away from the prejudices of isms (schools) that might limit his personal growth." "However, by returning to the Classicism of his early work he made it clear that this was not an artistic language he had sought to vanquish through abstraction". Torres-García was part of a May 1927 group show with Stanislaw Eleszkievicz and Runser at the Galerie d'art du Montparnasse, and had a solo exhibition of paintings at the Galerie Carmine from 16 to 30 June 1927.
He had a solo exhibition at the Galerie Zak in December 1928, and was part of a group exhibition at the Galerie des Editions Bonaparte with John Graham, Kakabadze, Tutundjian, and Vantongerloo in August 1929. Torres-García then had another solo exhibition at the Galerie Carmine. As a correspondent for the Catalan literary magazine Mirador he wrote a series of articles on painters, including an interview with Georges Braque. "But if Mondrian wanted to explore modernity by a single path, he (Torres-García) wanted to get to the bottom by two paths at the same time, starting from reason but not avoiding intuition".
Constructivism to Torres-García was the same as neoplasticism just a label. What mattered was creating a new image a new language within a traditional composition, in which he balanced representation and abstraction with signs. He had two solo exhibitions in 1931 at the Galerie Jeanne Bucher and the Galerie Percier, and a group show in October of that year at the Galerie Georges Petit with Giacometti, Ozenfant, Max Ernst, Miro, and Salvador Dalí. The following year, Torres-García presented a solo exhibition of paintings and sculptures at the Galerie Pierre. "The friendship between van Doesburg and Torres-Garcia will create the foundations for the three most important movements to promote abstract art: "Cercle et Carre" (1929–1930), "Art Concret" (1930); and "Abstraction-Creation"(1931–1936)." He founded the magazine Cercle et Carre with van Doesburg, and assembled a group of 80 artists. Torres-García left for the Community of Madrid and finished the manuscript of Arte Constructivo, which was published in 1935 under the name of "Estructura" and dedicated to his friend Piet Mondrian.
He returned to Montevideo in April 1934 for the first time since childhood. In August of that year, Torres-García exhibited paintings, sculptures and the work of the Cercle et Carre group and reedited the magazine as Circulo y Cuadrado. He published Historia de mi vida (Story of My Life) an autobiographical novel, in 1937. Two years later, Torres-García began work on the pink-granite Monumento Cosmico, a representative work from this period.
Torres-García announced the closing of the Association of Constructive Arte school in the last of 500 lectures he gave between 1934 and 1940. In 1941, he published Ciudad sin Nombre (A City With No Name). Torres-García presented a solo exhibition at the Society of Architects of Uruguay in November of that year. In July 1942, he received a visit from Committee of Inter-American Relations curator Lincoln Kirstein and Nelson A. Rockefeller. Torres-García founded the Taller Torres Garcia, similar to the European Bauhaus, two years later; the school included future artists Olga Piria, Gonzalo Fonseca, José Gurvich, Alceu Ribeiro, Julio Alpuy, Raquel Orzuj, Lily Salvo and his sons, Horacio and Augusto. Torres-García returned to the maternity theme from his 1914 Barcelona mural that year, creating a mural for the Sindicato Médico del Uruguay; he also painted seven monumental mural frescoes for the Hospital Saint Bois tuberculosis sanitarium. Torres-García died on 8 August 1949 while preparing two exhibitions: one at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York and other at the Pan American Union in Washington. He died of a heart attack.
Influenced by European, North American and South American modern art, his work evolved into a more abstract structure; Picasso, seven years younger, was a follower. Joan Miró was a student of Torres-García in Barcelona who acknowledged his teacher's influence, and Torres-García's constructive paintings influenced the evolution of American geometric abstraction.
Frescoes Torres-Garcia created in 1914 in his home built in the surrounding suburbs of Barcelona.
The Joaquín Torres-García Hall in the Palace of the Generalitat of Catalonia houses the frescoes painted by the artist on the walls of Salon Sant Jordi from 1912 to 1916, commissioned by President of the Council and the Commonwealth of Catalonia Enric Prat de la Riba. Torres-García worked on the first mural for 13 days, beginning on 28 July 1912, and it was unveiled on 13 September of that year. The four completed frescoes are entitled La Catalunya Eterna (Catalunya Eternal), L'Etat d'Or (The Golden Age), Les Muses (The Muses) and Lo temporal no es mes que simbol (The Temporal is Nothing But a Symbol). The murals were hidden from 1926 to 1966.