La Rambla and the Costa Brava, protagonists of the retrospective of Planas Gallés, on his centenary (1926-1996) at the Reial Cercle Artístic
July 6th. 2026
Through a careful selection of around fifty works (oils, watercolors, and ink drawings 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 highlights of his career.
A journey that spans from the more restrained and solemn figurative beginnings of the 1940s to the vital and life-affirming exuberance of the '70s and '80s. Always reflecting the everyday realities of an existence both intimate and expansive, enamored with the coastal landscapes and the bustle of the city. Among them, about fifteen pieces depicting La Rambla in the Postwar period-a city we have always been told was grey, but that Planas Gallés drenches in color.
The intense career of the Barcelona painter Jaume Planas Gallés (who discovered his passion for painting as a young man in the Pyrenees mountains, in Camprodon and Setcases) began at the age of sixteen, participating in calls for young painters at the Reig galleries in Barcelona.
In 1944 he was accepted as a member of the Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona, of which he would become a board member, painting spokesperson, assistant consultant, and commissioner of grants, exhibitions, and festivities. Having studied at the Sant Jordi School of Fine Arts (Llotja) between 1956 and 1958, in 1971 he would become Professor of Drawing and interim Professor of Color until 1974. That early period, in a still-wounded Barcelona, was marked by a socially active atmosphere of bohemia and gatherings. Iconic places like Cal Agut, Can Culleretes, or La Punyalada, which brought together around a table the aspirations of young people inspired by the glowing changes coming from Paris, would also witness the social and artistic changes that, slowly and in fits and starts, were taking place in our country. The paintings reflected this life brimming with discoveries and expectations, and Planas Gallés captured these realities in his works through figures, interior scenes, and still lifes marked by a chromatic sobriety that, in the 1950s, after falling in love with Port de la Selva and marine subjects, would transform into vibrant, lively chromaticism.
Between 1950 and 1976 he received a large number of awards and distinctions, being granted in 1975 the Gold Insignia of the Royal Artistic Circle, of which he was also an Honorary Member. Likewise, his exhibiting activity was intense between 1942 and 1970, later focusing 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 did not limit his painting to sought-after settings, whether landscapes or models, and much of his production depicted moments of everyday life: his own and that of those around him.
Thus, life's spaces were an inexhaustible source of inspiration-as were, also, the city of Barcelona and La Rambla, the seascapes, and the harbors of the Catalan coast. A tireless worker, his last exhibition took place in 1989 at La Pinacoteca, the Barcelona gallery that had borne witness to his creative journey.
This exhibition is a selection of works that Gemma Planas Suñer, the artist's daughter, loans to the Royal Artistic Circle. It is the first time in 30 years that the work of Planas Gallés is being presented to the public.
Opening: Thursday, July 9 at 7 pm.
Venue: Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona. C/ Arcs, 5. 08002 Barcelona. Hours: 10am to 2pm and 3pm to 8pm.
