Ricard Opisso Sala

beggars spanish modernism colored pencils

c.1940

Son of Alfredo Opisso y Viñas, journalist, historian and critic, and of Antonia Sala y Gil, his sister Regina Opisso, was also a writer. He comes from an enlightened family full of artists. His paternal grandfather was Josep Opisso y Roig, journalist and director of the Diari de Tarragona, father of the also writers Antonia Opisso y Viña and Antoni Opisso y Viña. His maternal great-grandfather was the painter Pere Pau Montaña, his maternal grandfather the fabulist Felipe Jacinto Sala and his maternal uncle, the painter Emilio Sala y Francés. His nephew was Arturo Llorens y Opisso, a writer better known under his pseudonym Arturo Llopis. Although he was born in Tarragona, his family moved to Barcelona when Opisso was only two years old. In modernist Barcelona at the end of the 19th century, Opisso worked as an assistant to Antonio Gaudí in the works of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona since 1892. He was linked to the group Els Quatre Gats, along with Ramón Casas, Manuel Hugué, Isidre Nonell and Pablo Picasso , among others. Later he worked as an illustrator in publications such as ¡Cu-cut! since 1903) and L'Esquella de la Torratxa (from 1912), signing drawings oriented to political satire, which are graphically related to art nouveau. Due to the dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, Opisso abandons political satire and his drawings approach the theme of manners, specializing in popular scenes. His drawings from this period are characterized by presenting motley crowds in popular Barcelona settings. His best known works for the cartoon magazine TBO (in which he had begun to collaborate in 1919) date from this time, where he specialized in making covers. He collaborated with many other publications, such as En Patufet, Pocholo, etc. In the postwar period, Opisso's pictorial work triumphed in the galleries of Barcelona. In 1953 he received the recognition of his hometown at the IV Tarragona Art Fair. At the Hotel Astoria in Barcelona, ​​a collection of more than 200 illustrations by Opisso has been permanently displayed since the end of 2007 on its ground floor (reception room and cafeteria). The drawings and posters come from the private collection of Jordi Clos, president of the chain that owns the hotel (Derby Hotels Collection).