Jaume Planas Gallés at the Reial Cercle Artístic

Through a careful selection of around fifty works (oils, watercolors, and inks from various creative periods), we can savor the evolution of a body of work characterized by chromatic explosion and the emotional and gestural intensity that permeates the most significant moments of his career.

A journey that travels from the more restrained and grave figurative beginnings of the 1940s to the vital and exuberant energy of the '70s and '80s. Always reflecting the daily life of a day-to-day that is both intimate and expansive, enamored with coastal landscapes and the bustle of the city. Among them, about fifteen pieces that depict Postwar La Rambla, a city that we have always been told was gray, but which Planas Gallés floods with color.

The intense career of the Barcelona painter Jaume Planas Gallés (who discovered his passion for painting at a very young age in the mountains of the Pyrenees, Camprodon, and Setcases) began at the age of 16, participating in the competitions for young painters at the Reig galleries in Barcelona.

In 1944 he was admitted as a member of the Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona, where he would become a member of the Board, painting representative, associate consultant, and commissioner for grants, exhibitions, and events. Having studied at the School of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi (Llotja) between 1956 and 1958, in 1971 he would become a Drawing Professor and interim Chair of Color until 1974. That first era, that of a still-wounded Barcelona, was marked by an atmosphere of bohemia and debates, very socially active. Iconic places like Cal Agut, Can Culleretes, or La Punyalada, which brought together around a table the hopes of young people who saw themselves reflected in the gleams of change coming from Paris, would also bear witness to the social and artistic changes that, slowly and in fits and starts, were taking place in our country. The paintings reflected this life full of discoveries and expectations, and Planas Gallés captured these realities in his works through figures, interior scenes, and still lifes characterized by a chromatic sobriety that, in the 1950s, after falling in love with Port de la Selva and marine themes, would transmute into a vibrant and lively chromaticism.

Between 1950 and 1976 he received a great number of awards and distinctions, receiving in 1975 the Gold Badge of the Royal Artistic Circle, of which he was also an Honorary Member. Likewise, his exhibition activity was intense between 1942 and 1970, after which he focused on studio work, collective exhibitions, and teaching. He exhibited in Barcelona, Madrid, Girona, Granada, Santander, Castellón, Valencia, Terrassa, Olot, Tossa de Mar, Caracas, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York. Planas Gallés didn't restrict his painting to sought-after settings, whether landscapes or models, and much of his work consisted of moments from daily life: his own and that of his environment.

Living spaces were, therefore, an inexhaustible source of inspiration, as were the city of Barcelona and La Rambla, the seascapes and ports of the Catalan coast. A tireless worker, his last exhibition took place in 1989 at La Pinacoteca, the Barcelona venue that had witnessed his creative trajectory.

This exhibition is a show of works that Gemma Planas Suñer, the artist's daughter, donates to the Royal Artistic Circle. It is the first time, after 30 years, that the work of Planas Gallés is presented to the public.

Opening: Thursday, July 9 at 7 p.m.

Location: Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona. C/ Arcs, 5. 08002 Barcelona. Opening hours: