Modest Cuixart

Modest Cuixart was born in 1925 in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona into a culturally rich family with a passion for poetry, music, painting and drawing. He began his education at the German School but, after being orphaned at the age of 14, followed the family tradition and embarked on a career in medicine. After two years, he abandoned medicine to pursue his true vocation, painting, and joined the Acadèmia Lliure de Pintura in Barcelona.

In 1948, at the age of 23, Cuixart co-founded the magazine Dau al Set with his cousin Antoni Tàpies, Joan Ponç, Juan Brossa, Arnau Puig, and Joan Tharrats. Their aim was to expand the limited post-war Barcelona art scene through a magical surrealism inspired by the work of Miró and Paul Klee.

Two years later, with a grant from the French Institute, Cuixart moved to Paris, where he met Picasso, Miró, and was influenced by Dubuffet’s art autre. He then moved to Lyon, beginning an intense period of experimentation with techniques such as pyrography, grattage, dripping, and encaustic. He started exhibiting in Paris and various European cities.

In 1953, he married Mariona Goday, with whom he had three children.

By the late 1950s, Cuixart was praised by critics as a true innovator of Informalism on an international scale. He became known for his celebrated dripping with metallic tones, which became part of his distinctive material Informalism.

In 1959, he won the Gold Medal at the prestigious Swiss Prize for Abstract Painting in Lausanne, defeating Lucio Fontana, who won the Silver Medal. He also won the Grand Prize for Painting at the V Biennial of São Paulo with nine magnificent large-format works, competing against artists such as Francis Bacon, Alberto Burri, and Karel Appel. These successes confirmed his status as an artist at the peak of his career. He became highly sought after for major international events, exhibiting in leading museums and galleries worldwide.

In the early 1960s, Cuixart entered an intellectual phase characterized by organic, sinister, and erotic features. He combined material Informalism with a graphic style of soft colours, which sparked significant controversy.

After separating from his wife, Cuixart moved to a small village in Girona with his close friend and patron Ramón de Batlle.

In 1974, he met Victoria Pujoldevall, with whom he had a son, and set up his studio-laboratory in Palafrugell.

For a time, he abandoned painting due to his low spirits following the death of Ramón de Batlle, later returning to create works marked by terrifying expressionism. It was not until the 1990s that he returned to the sobriety of his best periods.

Cuixart battled severe diabetes for many years, striving to preserve his sight.

Considered one of the most representative painters of the post-war period, Modest Cuixart was described by those who knew him as a self-taught artist with a broad cultural background, who charmed with his affable character, personality, and brilliant, pleasant conversation.

He died on October 31, 2007, in Palamós (Girona) at the age of 81, having received numerous distinctions, with his works exhibited in museums and institutional collections.

Exhibited Work:

“Harlequin”, 1965
Mixed media