Five letters from Rafael Barradas to Sebastià Gasch

Abstract

Rafael Barradas, a painter born in Uruguay, had an important role amidst Catalan avantgarde. In the 10s, he contributed to spread the international trends, first in Barcelona, later in Madrid, by means of his «vibrationist» style. Since 1926, established in l'Hospitalet de Llobregat (next to Barcelona), he rose to a central figure of rupturist efforts underlying Catalan cultural systems. In his turn, Sebastià Gasch was the most incisive art critic of that moment; a friend and tenacious defender of Joan Miró, of Salvador Dalí, of Picasso, he likewise held an intense relationship with Rafael Barradas. The five letters and the unpublished drawing (corresponding to the years 1927-1928) sent to Gasch by the painter, which are reproduced and analyzed [in the article], show that this relationship between Barradas and the Catalan art critic had a professional dimension as well as a personal one.