Abstract
All images are courtesy of Enric Galcerà
Translated from Spanish to English by Pol Galcerà
La Dona i el Mer (The Woman and the Sea).
I would venture to guess that “Anon,” who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.
A young woman from Barcelona, living in poverty in post-war Spain (1940s),wanted to be a sculptor. Her dream was heroic—but Luisa Granero turned her dream into a reality. Granero was a pioneering Spanish sculptor in 20th century Europe and the first Professor and PhD of Sculpture in Spain.
Many women have suffered, and continue to suffer not only inequality, but also anonymity, as Virginia Woolf posited, because they could not make themselves known as artists or professionals in other careers, fighting against the establishment if they dared to carve out their own spaces. In this sense, when Luisa Granero arrived in Madrid at the age of 40 to obtain her goals, in 1964, the first thing they told her was that because she was a woman, it would be practically impossible. But she made it happen.
“I have struggled a lot,” the sculptor admitted, reflecting on her career on her 80th birthday. “Sometimes I can’t believe what I’ve achieved coming from where I come from and at the time I was born. A woman, back in the 40s, of humble origins, did not have it easy to be a sculptor. But that has been my power and my strength.” The strength of a woman who dedicated her life to sculpture and her family, juggling the reconciliation that is so much talked about today, but which during the post-war period, when she began her journey as a sculptor, was still more difficult.
The great merit of being an artist, and even more so a sculptor, in a country and at a time when only men made sculptures and women were destined to get married, start a family, and stay at home, is one of the important elements of the personal and professional trajectory of Luisa Granero. She is a powerful example of how a self-made woman, with talent and determination, can achieve goals that seem impossible. Luisa Granero went from the abject poverty, without regular meals or access to education, to be a model for recognized painters, to a disciple and assistant of great sculptors, and, finally, being recognized as a prestigious sculptor and the first professor of sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Barcelona.
Luisa Granero working on figures from Al Ama de Casa Española (The Spanish Housewife)
“I have struggled a lot. Sometimes I can’t believe what I’ve achieved coming from where I come from and at the time I was born. A woman, back in the 40s, of humble origins, did not have it easy to be a sculptor. But that has been my power and my strength.”
Luisa Granera, Faculty of Fine Arts portrait.
Her early years were marked by poverty, living in an old, rented apartment that she, her sister, and her mother shared with their grandmother, her aunt, and her cousins.
Figura Dormida (Sleeping Figure)
Granero achieved this by working tirelessly with determination—an innate expression of her strength as an artist and as a woman, full of passion and tenacity. In addition to being a Professor and Doctor in the Faculty of Fine Arts, she was also a member of the Royal Academy of Santa Isabel de Hungría in Seville, of San Fernando in Madrid, of the Royal Academy of Sant Jordi in Barce- lona, and the National Sculpture Society of New York. Granero created an extensive body of work throughout Spain and Europe—as well as being included in private collections, she won numerous competitions and awards, and has a square named after her in Barcelona. In the more than 70 years Granero dedicated to sculpture—from the age of 17 when she created her first piece to a major exhibition in Italy in her 80s, without stopping working afterwards—she has demonstrated an unrivalled passion and strength that deserves to be remembered.
Born in Barcelona in 1924, the Civil War and the post-war period marked Granero’s childhood and early youth. She grew up in Barcelona’s Chinatown, in the bosom of a very humble family of Andalusian origin. Her early years were marked by poverty, living in an old, rented apartment that she, her sister, and her mother shared with their grandmother, her aunt, and her cousins. She and her cousins spent many afternoons waiting at the back of the Barcelona market of La Boquería, for the stalls to close, to collect the usable remains of fruit or vegetables to take home. “Many days I had to get by with a single serving of whatever: oranges, ripe bananas, or bread. Sometimes we didn’t even have enough to eat, and they couldn’t pay for the school where I started going at the age of nine. But art is always present at home. We had copies of important artists and, above all, of the female figures in the paintings that Ramón Casas painted because my mother, who also painted, and my aunt worked for him as models. In fact, my first years were among women: my mother, my aunt, my sister, my grandmother.”
Recuperado (Recovered)
Portrait paintings of Luisa Granero, artists unknown
Portrait paintings of Luisa Granero, artists unknown
In this environment, Luisa Granero grew up and began to model for artists such as Clarà, Llauradó, Vila Arrufat, Otero, Llimona, and the painter, Teresa Condeminas, who introduced her to her husband, painter Lluís Muntané, professor at the Barcelona School of Arts and Crafts and Fine Arts. The couple discovered the young woman’s talent when they saw some of her drawings and, at the age of 16, a world of possibilities opened up for Luisa Granero. She recalls, “I wanted to be an artist. I liked to paint and model. But I was a girl and we were in the middle of the post-war period. But when I also started working as a model for the sculptor, Jaime Otero, I discovered sculpture with him, and it attracted me in such a way that was irreversible. I saw that it is my destiny; I felt that in my life I could not do anything more than that.”
In September 1941, with the support of Lluis Muntané, Luisa Granero enrolled in the Barcelona School of Arts and Crafts. She stood out in such a way that she went directly to the Superior School of Fine Arts, working on a natural model and learning from great masters such as Ernesto Santasusagna, Frederic Marès, Lluis Muntané and Enrique Monjo, for whom she also worked as a model. “With the money I earned as a model, I paid for my studies and supported myself however I could. In Fine Arts, a friend and I were called “quince girls” because many days that was the only thing we could eat. But often, I remember the artists who suffered from hunger and difficulties before being recognized and I got excited thinking that, at least in that, I looked like them. And when at night I drew one of my feet to practice, sticking it out from under the bed, and the cold wouldn’t let me continue, I thought the obstacles didn’t matter because I was doing what I wanted.”
“I thought the obstacles didn’t matter because I was doing what I wanted.”
In the mid-1940s, Luisa Granero began her professional career after finishing her studies, and started working as an assistant to the sculptors, Jaime Otero and Martí Llauradó. “Otero allowed me to show him my vocation and I, at night, at home, modeled clothes, feet, hands, everything I could. It was very cold, and I wrapped myself in newspapers. I didn’t eat or dine, but I was the happiest woman in the world. I had the stupid pride of believing that I was going to eat the world even if I didn’t have enough to eat.” Just before her eighteenth birthday, Luisa Granero exhibited her first sculpture at the Barcelona Municipal Exhibition. She began the difficult path of a young artist, even more so by being a woman. She faced many difficulties, worked tirelessly, and appeared in numerous contests, winning her first prizes and recognitions.
In 1949, she married the sculptor Enric Galcerà Martí. From this union, in 1953, her son Enric de Ella was born, and Granero began a time of reconciliation to combine her family and domestic work with her career. During this time, Granero explains, “I was a mother, wife, housewife, and Monjo’s assistant, and at night I made sculptures. Sometimes my husband turned off the lights so I didn’t work too late. But I had to do it because those were the only hours I could fully dedicate to my work. In the morning, I got up very early to go to the market; I came home, I got everything ready, I took care of my son, and then I went to Monjo’s studio. In the afternoons, I took care of the house and my son, and I participated in different competitions and collective exhibitions.”
Monumental commissions began to appear, such as the sculptures of the Palacete Albéniz in Barcelona, the Virgen de la Virreina on Las Ramblas, the Miramar Sundial or La Maternidad, among others she made for her hometown. The strength of women is central to each and every one of her works, and the Barcelona sculptor has become a magnificent ambassador of the feminine universe. Her sculptures, almost all with features of her own face, emanate her presence. Granero created tirelessly, and shared her life and career with her husband, as married artists, professors at the Faculty of Fine Arts, who helped each other and, as parents, gave their son an open and evolved childhood.
At the beginning of the 1960s, Luisa Granero had established herself as a recognized sculptor on the strength of her own work and the trade learned from her teachers.
Figura (Figure)
The strength of women is central to each and every one of her works, and the Barcelona sculptor has become a magnificent ambassador of the feminine universe.
Mujer con Niña (Woman with Child), Jardines de Joan Maragall y Palacete Albeniz, Barcelona, Spain
“Thanks to Enrique Monjo I made a great discovery: I understood that art is not a copy. With Monjo, I discovered that the artist is in oneself, and all this allowed me to evolve being more myself with my work.” On August 5, 1964, Luisa Granero travelled to Madrid, alone. It was the day of her 40th birthday, and a train took her towards a new stage of her career –to apply, to an all-male court, for the Chair of Fine Arts in Sculpture. They told her that because she was a woman she would not be awarded the position. One of her professors, a member of the court, was a radical misogynist who had promised to veto her. But fate intervened—or the angel that Luisa always said protected her—the train on which the professor was traveling broke down in Zaragoza, preventing him from reaching Madrid for the vote.
Luisa became the first woman professor of Sculpture in Spain. Three years later, in September 1967, the new Fine Arts building in the Barcelona University Zone was inaugurated, and the commission of the large Sant Jordi at the entrance and two other female figures were entrusted to Luisa Granero. “Teaching classes, I received the influence of youth, my students and teaching giving me more knowledge which is always useful to create more easily.” In her classes, Luisa Granero modelled with her students and played tapes of Rodin’s “The Testament,” with all the reflections and advice of the great French sculptor who she admired so much, and she hoped would be an inspiration for her students and disciples. “As a sculptor, my desire is to simplify my work, but not by removing it, but by making the force emanate from the inside to the outside.”
One year after the inauguration of the new Fine Arts Building, in 1968, Luisa Granero had her first individual exhibition in one of the most prestigious art galleries in the city as a result of a “chance.” She recalls, “The first time I entered the Sala Parés (best art gallery reference in Barcelona), I took a series of photographs of my work to show because I thought I was unknown to the gallery. I wanted to exhibit in that important room, and to my surprise Mr. Maragall, in front of the gallery, told me that he already knew me because [my work hung] in the dining room of his house. The truth is that he had a portrait by Rafael Llimona, for whom I had posed as a model. Thus, a few months after that first meeting, in 1968, I had my first solo exhibition at Sala Parés. From there, my life as a sculptor and professor at the Faculty took shape. I exhibit every four years in the Sala Parés, but I alternate with other exhibitions in Spain and Italy while I make monumental sculptures and portraits for individuals. I love art so much.”
Al Ama de Casa Española (The Spanish Housewife)
And in 1983, Granero wrote her doctoral thesis on baked earth as a definitive subject.
Her passion for this subject was also the focus of her admission speech as Elected Academician of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi in 2006, a distinction she adds to those of being a member of the academies of Santa Isabel de Hungría de Seville, San Fernando de Madrid, and the National Sculpture Society of New York.
Maternidad (Maternity).
De Pie Encinta (Standing Pregnant)
At 80 years old, coinciding with her birthday, she staged her last great exhibition at Lago di Garda in Italy. “I have struggled a lot. Sometimes I can’t believe what I’ve achieved coming from where I came from and at the time I was born. A woman, in the forties, of humble origins, did not have it easy for being a sculptor. But this has been my strength. And I have been happy. And every day I thank God.”
At 87 years of age, Luisa Granero passed away in Barcelona. The day before she was visiting a gallery to plan what was going to be her next exhibition. She had created more than 800 sculptures and countless sketches, paintings, and reliefs. Her last monumental work was the Genius of the Islands in Majorca.
In 2024, the centenary of her birth will be commemorated with exhibitions, tributes, and acts in recognition of the life and work of the great artist and extraordinary person. Luisa Granero was loved, respected, and admired by all those who knew her. It will be a tribute to her artistic and personal career, as well as a look at so many artists, and especially women, who should not remain anonymous. But also, it will be an inspiration for future generations. Artists, all of them, who contribute to making the world a little happier as the sculptor, Auguste Rodin, so admired by Luisa Granero, said: “The world will only be happy when everyone has the soul of an artist, that is, when everyone enjoys the work of their creation.”
And Luisa Granero always enjoyed creating her work. ●
Luisa Granero (photograph by Enric Galcera)
