Antoni Clavé

Biography of Antoni Clavé

Antoni Clavé, born in Barcelona in 1913, entered the Fine Arts School of his city at the age of 17. The civil war forced him to seek refuge in France in the late 1930s.

There, he first became known as an illustrator and especially as a theater decorator. Until the early 1950s, he pursued this career, working notably with Roland Petit.

In 1954, ten years after his decisive encounter with Picasso, he definitively abandoned decoration and opted for painting. A hard worker, he enjoys challenging his technique, his choice of subjects, and the materials with which he expresses himself.

In 1965, he settled in St. Tropez, where he would end his life, passing away in 2005.

Antoni CLAVE - Original Lithograph: Warrior His expressionist painting oscillated between the figurative, which was not entirely so, and an abstract where known forms and timeless symbols clashed. In this regard, Clavé, following in the footsteps of Miro and parallel to Tapiès, is an explorer of new expression techniques, where the sign is a language.

Less known to the general public than the militant Tapiès, Clavé is nevertheless one of the main references for art lovers regarding the second half of the 20th century.

(c) Natacha PELLETIER for PASSION ESTAMPES