Ricard Canals

Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spain

One of the best known turn of the century Barcelona artists and part of the Quatre Gats group , Ricard Canals studied in Llotja where he met Isidre Nonell. With Mir, Nonell, Pichot, A. Gual y Juli Vallmitjana he formed part of the “Colla del Safra” (The Saffron Group) so named because of the colorful palette in their paintings. A subtle colorist, Canals had an instinctive understanding of the French painting of Renoir, Degas and Manet.

In 1897 with Nonell he travels to Paris where they exhibit at the gallery Chez Dosbourg. Nonells returns to Barcelona and Canals remains represented by Durand-Ruel and maintains a close relationship with Picasso. He was a man of incredible charm- someone who according to John Richardson Picasso would like enormously. “Canals played a liberating role in Picasso’s development: he encouraged him to emerge from his tenebrist phase and experiment with color. Most important, he introduced him to printmaking.” (John Richardson, “A Life of Picasso: The Prodigy 1881-1906”, Vol. 1, New York, 1991, p. 137)