HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 Salud !

Santiago Segura was ahead of his time when he created a wine cellar in his well-known art gallery, the Galeries  Laietanes, in Barcelona in 1915.  The gallery was one of the meeting places for artists and intellectuals of the Noucentisme movement.  Noucentisme opposed modernism (the previous movement) and the bohemian lifestyle.  It was synonymous with order!  Joaquin Sunyer (a Barcelona artist/painter) and Joseph Puig (a Barcelona architect) were associated with this movement as was Xavier Nogues who is the artist of these delightful figures.
Xavier Nogues was commissioned to decorate the walls of the wine cellar where the wine tastings were held. He painted figures with a likable charm and slightly tipsy.  A satire on the human weakness.  He was also known for his enamelled glass and ceramic pieces.
Around 1945, the cellar sadly was turned into a storage room.   The murals had been done in tempura and they were stripped off the walls and put up for sale at the Sala Pares in Barcelona.  The Museu Nacional d' Art de Catalunya purchased all of them.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Wishing you prosperity and most of all, good health.

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, 

but I prefer to take my chances with a glass of wine.  

Salud!