Agustín Querol - Art Nouveau Masterpiece in Zaragosa

image.jpg

Agustí Querol i Subirats (or Agustín Querol y Subirats) (1860-1909) was a highly skilled neoclassical Spanish (Catalonian) sculptor. The final monument he completed in his lifetime was the Monumento a los Sitios de Zaragoza in Zaragosa's Plaza de Los Sitios. 

Monumento a los Sitios de Zaragoza is significant in that it marks a very adept artistic shift, by the artist, from neoclassical to Art Nouveau - or rather modernista - style.

Agustin Querol was a true master sculptor, whose work rivalled and even surpassed his French counterparts. Monumento a los Sitios de Zaragoza is a magnificent and beautiful masterpiece, and a remarkable success in its own right as a work of Art Nouveau. It skillfully employs what I term the Art Nouveau monstrous style - a style where various forms writhe amoebic into an undulating mass, and form a cohesive, naturalistic cloud - perhaps representative of the universe itself. See Georges Hoentschel's Monumental Vase for an excellent example of what I term Art Nouveau monstrosity. 

Following are images I took yesterday of the large monument - which is topped by a personification and allegory of Zaragosa:

 

image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
image.jpg
Plaza de Los Sitios, Zaragosa

Plaza de Los Sitios, Zaragosa

Jesse Waugh