Josep M. Subirachs

(Barcelona, March 11, 1927 – idem, April 7, 2014)

Spanish sculptor, painter, engraver, set designer and art critic.

Subirachs was amultifaceted artist who excelled especially in sculpture, but also in other techniques such as painting, drawing, engraving, posters, tapestry, book illustration, jewelry design and the minting of medals.

Subirachs was a regular visitor to the Hotel Estela Barcelona in Sitges, largely because of his friendship with the hotel’s owners. Today the hotel has the world’s largest private collection of the artist’s works, including sculpture, painting, drawing, tapestry, graphic work and a bibliophile’s edition. Algunas de esas obras fueron creadas in situ, como la Suite del Amor (Hab. 219),el conjunto escultórico Estela, situado en la terraza del Restaurante Iris o la Escalera Estelar que se encuentra en el hall del hotel.

In 2020, in collaboration with the Fundació Josep Puigmartí, the Hotel Estela published a book that brings together the entire collection.

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Throughout his long career he went through various stages: Mediterranean, expressionist, abstract and new figuration.

In his work, Subirachs synthesized technical mastery and purity of materials and textures with the desire to communicate and express a symbolic and transcendental language, through the creation of his own universe of iconographic references.

For the Barcelona sculptor, art is a way of vindicating life and creation in the face of death and destruction.

Undoubtedly, Subirachs’ masterpiece was the sculptural decoration of the Passion Façade of the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, which he created between 1987 and 2009.

Recommended visit

Guided tours by appointment

By Judit Subirachs, daughter of Josep Mª Subirachs, PhD in Art History and expert on the work. Highly recommended.

Carrer de Batista, 6
08005 Barcelona