Feliu Elias, ink that burns

It is necessary to claim Feliu Elias (Barcelona, ​​​​1878-1948) as one of the country's greatest artists of the 20th century. A multifaceted figure, in addition to being a painter, he cultivated caricature and illustration in the press and art criticism. Biting, controversial, incorruptible in both ways, curiously as a painter he is associated with “realism”, hence the subtitle of the exhibition presented at the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya: Reality as an obsession.

It is duly explained in the catalog that this artist, initially uncomfortable and strange, began to recover in the eighties when he joined the famous exhibition the realisms (1980) at the Center Pompidou in Paris and, shortly afterwards, when a memorable exhibition about the artist was presented – with texts, among others, by Francesc Fontbona– at the then-called Museu d'Art Modern in Barcelona in 1986.

Since then, his presence has been fundamental in exhibitions that address the problem of figuration between wars, such as those curated by Tomás Llorens or Juan Manuel Bonet. However, since that distant year of 1986, no other monograph on the artist had been presented, so this review was convincing.

The artist's recovery began in the 1980s, when he was part of the famous 'Les Réalismes' exhibition at the Center Pompidou in Paris.

“Search for pure reality”, “fetishistic obsession”, “photographic coldness”, “technical perfection”, “virtuosity”, etc., are expressions with which Elias is described, but it is necessary to emphasize that His painting is linked to the great currents of modernity. Feliu Elias not only rereads the tradition of great painting, but also became informed and got to know first-hand the “New Objectivity” or “metaphysical painting”, experiences that claim figuration from an innovative perspective and that hover over his work.

Feliu Elias' realism is a pure creation of the spirit. The exhibition includes a quote from a contemporary –rafael benet, critic and painter – who warned that his painting burned; This is the diabolical and perverse dimension that cohabits in Elijah’s “realism”. Indeed, despite being described as realism, the artist uses strategies (changes in scale, brightness, shadows, etc.) introduce a virtual dimension and enhance a magical effect. Thus, in one of the cards it is observed that the proportions of the different objects represented in the work entitled The gallery (1928) are at odds with the search for this disturbing expressiveness.

The exhibition curated by Mariangels Fondevila It is mariona security contemplates the three facets of the creator, illustrator, painter and art critic with a –coherently resolved– approach common in this type of sets that seek to explore the universe of a creator. However, in the second part of the exhibition a very suggestive perspective is introduced.

A script is presented with a diversity of artists – Picasso, Miró, Dalí, Togores, Sunyer, barred, Torres García, etc. – who confront the critic/essayist Feliu Elias. This is a selection of creators who at the time were studied – praised or censored – by Joan Sacs (Elias's heteronym as an art critic) in such a way that a kind of cartography was created in the light of Elias' system or “realism”. . .

The MNAC exhibition is complemented by another small but at the same time large exhibition at the Museu d'Art de Sabadell, the family's hometown: The circles of Feliu Elias in Sabadell. In this case, curated by Mariona Seguranyes, it is an investigation into the origins and family and cultural context of Elias, which helps to understand the artist and the message that, as if locked in a bottle and thrown into the sea, he tried to communicate .

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