Pablo Gargallo

He was a Spanish sculptor and painter.
Born in Maella, Zaragoza, he moved with his family to Barcelona in 1888, where he began his artistic training. He spent part of his life in the Montparnasse neighborhood of Paris. In 1903, in Paris, he lived in the artist commune Le Bateau-Lavoir, with Max Jacob, Juan Gris and other "starving" artists, including his friend Picasso whose head he modeled in a sculpture. The following year Juan Gris introduced him to Magali Tartanson, whom he married in 1915. In 1934 he suffered from fulminant pneumonia and died in Reus, (Tarragona) where he had traveled to inaugurate an exhibition of his work.
Gargallo, influenced by his friend Julio González, developed a style of sculpture based on the creation of three-dimensional objects from flat metal plates, also using paper and cardboard. Some of these sculptures have a type of minimalism. For example, only half of a face is shown and it may have only one eye. He also created more traditional sculptures in bronze, marble and other materials. Among his works are three pieces based on Greta Garbo: "Masque de Greta Garbo à la mèche", "Tête de Greta Garbo avec chapeau" and "Masque de Greta Garbo aux cils."
He is considered one of the most significant artists of the Spanish and international avant-garde. In 1985 the Pablo Gargallo Museum was inaugurated in the Palacio Arguillo in Zaragoza.
The Museum has an excellent documentation center where you can consult information about the artist's life and work. Furthermore, the Center houses an important documentary collection on other contemporary sculptors.