The Rafael Masó Foundation receives an important gift of the architect's paintings and drawings

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

The works come from the collection of Joan Tarrús, board member of the Foundation and Masó scholar, and are related to important buildings by Rafael Masó from the period 1909-1919

The Rafael Masó Foundation has just received an important gift of nine drawings and paintings on paper by Rafael Masó, a set of works related to some of the architect's most prominent projects. Until now, the works belonged to the collection of Joan Tarrús, architect and board member of the Foundation, who is considered one of the greatest specialists in the work of Masó and is the author, together with Narcís Comadira, of the main monograph on the architect.

The gift includes two drawings of the vestibule of the farmhouse El Soler (1909), in Sant Hilari Sacalm; three watercolors on paper of the renovation project of the Casa Masó in Girona (1910-1911), specifically of the furniture in the dining room and bedroom on the third floor that were intended for the architect's home; two watercolors with proposals for the facade of the flour warehouse of Josep Ensesa Pujadas in Girona (1911), which were discarded; an elevation of Casa Casas in Sant Feliu de Guíxols (1914), with differences compared to the proposal that was finally built; and an ink and watercolor elevation of the facade of the Callicó Garage in Girona (1919) (photo).

The mayor of Girona and president of the Rafael Masó Foundation, Lluc Salellas, has assessed this donation very positively as it "enriches the heritage preserved at Casa Masó and will allow it to be more widely promoted through the Foundation's exhibitions and publications". Salellas has expressed his gratitude to Joan Tarrús on behalf of the entire Board of Trustees of the Foundation and the city, since from now on the collection is a public heritage that "will undoubtedly contribute to the study and knowledge of Mason's work and of Noucentisme in Girona". Joan Tarrús had already made another important gift of drawings by Rafael Masó to the Foundation, in 2016, and photographic plates, in 2023.

The period to which the works in the donation belong, from 1909 to 1919, coincides with a decade that is considered the peak of Noucentisme and of Masó's architectural work, during which he designed many of his most outstanding works, some of which are present in this collection. They also allow you to see different aspects of his work, such as the furniture design for his home and different examples of residential and industrial architecture. The two watercolors of the Ensesa warehouse and the drawing of the Garage Callicó will be included in the next exhibition at Casa Masó, which will precisely be devoted to the industrial architecture of Masó. Some of these works are considered the most representative of Noucentisme and have been part of exhibitions on Catalan art in Japan and the United States.