Rafael Jutglar Pujol (1889 - 1961) - Cesta con cerezas

Signed by the artist at the bottom

The overall condition of the work is good; just note that it presents some craquelure due to the passage of years

The work is framed

Work dimensions: 38 cm high x 41 cm wide

Frame dimensions: 47 cm high x 55 cm wide

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RAFAEL JUTGLAR PUJOL (Badalona, 1889 - Barcelona, 1961)

Rafael Jutglar Pujol was born in Badalona on October 11, 1889 and died in Barcelona in 1961. He studied at a School of Arts and Trades in Barcelona, where his fondness for drawing and painting began to germinate, and which would later occupy most of his professional activity.

Very young, he went to Cuba with his brother Miguel. There he worked as a drafting illustrator, in addition to writing Art criticism for the prestigious Diario de la Marina in Havana. Among his activities in that country, it is worth mentioning his collaboration on the projects for the Presidential Palace, the Casino Español of Havana, the Maceo monument, and the Centro Asturiano. The truth is that both he and his brother maintained very good official connections in Cuba.

Back in Spain, he worked in Badalona for the Compañía Catalana de Productos Químicos as a draftsman from February to July 1918. It was then that he moved to Sabiñánigo, joining EIASA as a draftsman. He remained with this company in two interrupted periods, first from July 1918 to April 1921, and then from January 1925 to November 1927, with a gap from 1921 to 1925 in Huesca. From September 1926 to November 1927 he was transferred to Panticosa. At EIASA he worked on projects related to the construction of waterfalls and buildings. From his stay in Huesca we know that he worked at the Military Command of works.

In 1927 he left EIASA and until 1930 he worked in Sabiñánigo as Designer and Contractor. Perhaps this is the period that interests us most, since he left a clear personal mark. During those three years he carried out several works: Casa LACOMA (the old one) in Puente de Sardas, which was the first he did; Casa de ROSENDO BIESCAS, still standing, where the "Almacenes Arrudi" is located; Casa ABADIAS (or el VINATERO), already disappeared, where today is "El Barato"; Casa de la HISPANO TENSINA, also disappeared; Casa LAGUARTA where he lived and from which some remains are still visible. But, certainly, his most representative work was the construction of the Church of Christ the King. In 1929 the construction of this church was completed (years later it would be remodeled), and it was consecrated on May 5 by the Illmo. Mr. Bishop Don Juan Villar Sanz; and as expected, the original parish seal was made precisely by Rafael Jutglar.

In 1930, after finishing Rosendo Biescas’ house, he secured the contract to build the road from Sabiñánigo-town to the station, although he did not finish it due to bankruptcy.

But his activity in Sabiñánigo was not limited to construction; Rafael Jutglar also had time for drawing and painting (some works from the Exhibition date from the Sabiñánigo period), to make program covers for celebrations, letterheads, invoices, various logos, etc. Even the older residents remember that he painted the ribbons for the festive race events. He even taught drawing at Casa VICTOR, where he lived for a while. Indeed, he fully integrated into the Sabiñánigo community and is remembered for his joviality and friendliness and a few anecdotes aboard his car, a “torpedo” model.

Regarding his style, it can be noted that he was influenced by the Modernist current of the first quarter of the century. The advent of the Modernist style in Aragonese architecture was a relatively late phenomenon, closely linked to the diffusion of Catalan modernism, especially the “floral style.” Although it was a movement essentially urban, Jutglar applied it in Sabiñánigo in a personal way both in architecture and in the graphic arts: floral and vegetal forms, interplay of curved and straight lines, allegorical figures, etc.

Rafael Jutglar left Sabiñánigo in 1931 and resided in Barcelona until his death in 1961. For those thirty years he devoted himself entirely to the world of drawing and painting, leaving behind a vast body of work, of which this Exhibition shows a small part. Of his pictorial activity in this period, two Exhibitions can be highlighted: one in 1949 of Drawings at the Sala Caralt in Barcelona, with good reviews, and another in 1953 at the Casa de Cultura in San Sadurní de Noia.

Thirty years after his death and sixty since his departure from our town, "Amigos de Serrablo" has "recovered" this man who left his mark in the short history of the industrial Sabiñánigo. Rafael Jutglar, undoubtedly, will become better known in Sabiñánigo starting from this Exhibition.