Immaculada Socias

Next December 1, Immaculada Socias presents a The Hispanic Society of America the book The Correspondence between Isidre Bonsoms Sicart and Archer Milton Huntington: The Collecting of Antique Books and works of Art.

Immaculada Socies Professor of Art Departament of the Barcelona University (UA) could wrote this book about the correspondence between these two lovers of books and art,  because The Hispanic Society of America preserved nearly a hundred letters of this correspondence, that goes from 1903 to 1913.

Archer Milton pintat per José María Lopez Mezquita

Archer Milton Huntington was the most influential person in the field of studies of Hispanic Culture in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. His most popular and more durable contribution was the creation of the Spanish Museum founded in 1904.  Over fifty years the filled the museum with its collections of paintings, decorative arts, manuscripts, maps, prints and photographs. Among his travels he rebuild the road of the Cid between Burgos to Valencia, it was in 1892.



Regarding the content of this Museum you could see paintings by El Greco, Goya, Sorolla, as well as notable pieces of medieval art. In decorative arts you can highlight the Custody from the Church of Saint John, made by Cristobal Becerril, around 1585. As for the sculptures, there are samples of the tombs from the Monastery of San Francisco de Cuellar, among others. Or about the old books you can see an edition of Don Quijote from 1605 by Juan de la Cuesta. The library contains over 250.000 books and news papers, about 15.000 are prior to 1701, and more than 200.000 manuscripts from the twelfth century onwards.

Portada del llibre en castellà

 As for Isidre Bonsoms a catalan bibliophile who started a library – he gifted it to the Institute of Catalan Studies – with a celebrated collection dedicated to Cervantes, as well as prints covering the fifteenth to the nineteenth century (Briefs Bosoms) there are over 5.000. Another collection from Spanish literary works prior or contemporaneous to Cervantes, and the oddities of manuscript of the Decameron in Catalan, or a unique piece of Tirant lo Blanc translated in Spanish.

Simcha Even-Chen  with her work Flow Motion 2n Award.

Just the next October 30, you could to see this exposition at the Saló Portal del Pardo al Vendrell.
The exposition shows you the works of the VI Biennal de Ceràmica del Vendrell, works made for artist of the different countries.

In total 17 works and artist, come from United Kingdom, USA, Turkey, Switzeland, Belgium, Argentina, Poland, Austria, and Spain, in this case the artist come from Valencia, Huesca, Tarragona, Barcelona and Girona.

Women account for the awards

The competition winners were:

1st – Yeraz Vi –  by Monique  Wuarin (from Jussy, Swtzeland)  work in porcelain stoneware, porcelain and lacquer. 44 x 50 x 25 cm.

2n. Flow Motion – by  Simcha Even-Chen (from f Rehovot , Israel), work in porcelain stoneware adnd porcelain.  36 x 90 x 50 cm.

3rd. – The White Plumes – by Todd Shanafelt (from Mankato, United States)  work in clay, wood, metal and polystyrene 50 x 65 x 25 cm.

Detail of the work

Mention: Fragment or Window  - by Cristina Marquez (from Barcelona, Spain), work in porcelain, 70 x 70x 30 cm.

The opening ceremony was attended by Benet Jané, Mayor of the Town Hall of  El Vendrell and Martí Carnicer, Deputy Major, and the jury has made the selection of the works and the selections of winners, composed by Albert Solé Councillor for Culture, M. Teresa Capet, ceramist; M. Àngels Domingo, ceramist; Josep Miquel Garcia, Director of the Museum Apel•les Fenosa, Gemma Sabaté, head of he Art Collection of the Towm Hall and Immaculada Socias, Professor of Art History.

Albert Solé, Councillor for Culture, said that the exhibitions were themselves the culmination of the creative process that begins with the intellectual work of the author, involves the physical embodiment in the studio and just work the presentation to the public because it captures the perceptions that the work produces in each one of them.  About the VI Biennal de Ceràmica del Vendrell, he highlighted it could be summed with the words Strength, Balance and Sensibility.

In this last line M. Angels Domingo, president of the jury, pointed the daring of the authors to face the creative challenge, as well as strength, balance, and sensibility mentioned before.

Meanwhile Benet Jané welcomes the line of this exhibition in their past twelve years developing, and invited to remain expectant face to the exhibition next year of the award-winning artists.

Left to right Jaume Rafols, Councillor of Culture; Masha  Waisel, Nuala Herron, Ana Andra i Pau Catà Marles

The relationship between Llorenç del Penedes and Ana Andra, Masha Waisel and Nuala Hedrron.


From their different backgrounds, cultures and creative techniques and with the stimulation provided by their stay in Casamarles, directed by Paul Cata Marles, yesterday was presented the work developed by theses three artists.



So Masha Waisel, Israeli artist, who search her reference points in two elements the wooden bench and the stone, and she has created an intimate space where tradition and innovation, endless movement, the contemporary and the ancestral are present to offer a personal experience to every who sits on the wooden bench and plunges into her proposal.

Masha Waisel sitting at her work.

  Technically Waisel has combined sculpture, video art and photography. Masha Waisel, as well as, multidisciplinary artist is also a writer (“My Four Cornered Room”, “Letters to Martha” and “Patches”, among other), has also developed a PC program Art2C, a multimedia encyclopedia virtual, also she designs jewels and she is professor of art history.

Nuala Herron

Meanwhile Nuala Herron, born in Northern Ireland, takes its starting point in a walk through the town, visiting shops, and takes the human faces from the vendors or markets stalls week.

The artist has taken the instant about the person and at the same time the vitally of the town.

This same search that led her to know the everyday conducting also led her to do a workshop around human face with 10 an 11 years children at a Summer House, which results are displayed in the exhibition.



Familiar faces in the town vas in the work of Nuala Herron, and she offered to the visitors attendees who to draw them, as a part inaugurated act of the exhibition.

The drawings and paintings were to support in the remains of windows and shutters collected by the artist from parts rejected by the neighbours and this rejected objects became part of her artistic creation.

Ana Andra

A construction by Ana Andra based on several architecture samples from Llorenç del Penedès.

About Ana Andra, Argentine artist, born in Buenos Aires, offers to the visitor a tour to the village but se take different buildings or spaces and combining photos by the technique of assemblage, she build a new town from the deconstruction of the everyday vision and offer to the visitant a game that actually new town identity, by projecting the know areas with a renewed perspective and causing a reflection about what is considered know and unknown.

.The event was presented by Jaume Rafols, Councillor of Culture, as this exposition is the first collaboration between the Centre for Research and Creation Casamarles (CeRCCa) and the village Town Hall, and its part of the events from the Major Festival 2011, also by Pau Cata Marles, who made the introduction of the artist and their works, in the name of CeRCCa, where the artist are doing a stay, as part oft the projects of this non-profit organization located in Llorenç del Penedès.
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