I’ve been living in the P-O since 2001. In that time, I have visited Céret on many occasions. With visitors, to see friends, for the market, for a meal, the cherry festival, the Feria or a visit to the museum or church.
During all that time I’ve noticed that Céret has a penchant for digging up their roads and pavements not just once or twice but on a regular and ritualistic basis. I’m not sure if they have ever found what they were looking for (a bit like U2), but one recent piece of pavement art attracted my attention. I refer to the pavement adjacent to the Mairie and the old tourist office. There you will find an interesting commemoration to the artists that have been drawn to the area and have links to Céret and the P-O.
I spoke to the Céret Tourist Office to get some background on how this came about and how the names were chosen, as it lists 32 artists in music, painting, sculpture, cinema, and the written word. They are predominately French but with ten Spanish, a Pole, a Lithuanian, and a Belarussian contributor. They, of course, include a strong contingent of French/Spanish Catalans but amazingly not one woman (apart from the statue). Their origins are drawn from across France and Catalunya, but the common denominator is they have all have a link to Céret and the Pyrenées-Orientales.
Of the 32 names, I knew of maybe seven or eight and some purely by seeing their names on street signs. This prompted me to dig a bit deeper and, as you do, create a summary of who they all were. The discoveries I made were truly enlightening from a human and artistic viewpoint with many of them instigating some of the greatest art movements of our time.
Quim Domene
The Céret tourist office informed me that Quim Domene was responsible for the monument; in metal, marble, and brick, it’s a work of art in itself. Quim is a Spanish artist born in Olot. This is his website and a direct link to his public works (Céret is on page 24).
(Marie Joseph Alexander) Deodat de Severac
Deodat is the only composer commemorated on the monument. He was born into a noble, artisitic family in Saint-Felix-Lauragais, P-O side of Toulouse. He studied in both Toulouse and Paris before moving to Céret, where he died in 1921.
Find out more here.
Ramon Pichot
Ramon was a Spanish/Catalan painter, friend of Picasso and an early mentor to Dali. After Pichot’s sudden death in 1925, Picasso included a commemoration to him in a painting he was working on at the time, namely ‘The three dancers’.
Find out more here.
Manolo Hugue
Manolo Hugue, better known as just Manolo, was a Catalan/Spanish sculptor and part of the 20th century noucentism movement, which pushed back against modernism and avant-gardism. Although a friend of Picasso, his style was more reminiscent of another local artist, Aristide Maillol.
Find out more here.
Frank Burty Haviland
Born in Perpignan, Haviland was a cubist painter, as well as a friend and client of both Picasso and Braque. He was an avid collector of African art, which can be seen in his own works.
Find out more here.
Pablo Picasso
Arguably our biggest claim to fame, homegrown hero Picasso tried his hand at an astonishing array of media: painting, sculpting, collage, ceramics, theatre… He spent most of his life north of the border in France and became one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, within the cubism movement but also across the artistic spectrum. The newly reopened Musée d’art moderne in Céret houses a number of his works.
Find out more here.
Georges Braque
A big contributor to the cubism and fauvism movements, Braque was a close friend and colleague of Picasso, so much so that it was difficult to distinguish the artists in many of their early works. Braque’s quiet nature meant he was largely eclipsed by the more flamboyant Picasso.
Find out more.
José Victoriano (Carmelo Carlos) González-Pérez
Madrid-born, Jaun Gris, as he’s more commonly known, spent most of his working life in France. Another big name in the cubism movement, his innovative works are among the most distinctive.
Find out more here.
