Arranz-Bravo lived in the town of Cadaqués from 1985 to 1992, where he experimented with disturbing shapes which arose from a deeply-held artistic strength. This force is present in the works David, Seagull and Prima Pantocrator, the latter work reflects the light of Cadaqués.

Arranz-Bravo lived in the town of Cadaqués from 1985 to 1992, where he experimented with disturbing shapes which arose from a deeply-held artistic strength. This force is present in the works David, Seagull and Prima Pantocrator, the latter work reflects the light of Cadaqués.

With the exception of a single painting, the Big Soul series is present in its entirety in the Arranz-Bravo Foundation. This series comprises two oil paintings and seven paintings on paper.
The poetic use of coloured stripes on top of other shapes gives these works a strange presence in their interior, a kind of soul.

Homer’s characters Ulysses, Telemachus and Penelope are present in this large-format painting. Fortunately the foundation holds all the photographic documentation regarding the creative process of this work, which shows the initial, highly figurative representation of the characters through to their highly purified and synthesised final rendering. Due to its complexity and size this is one of the most interesting and intriguing works held by the Foundation.

Man and Stars is the only work by Arranz-Bravo in which the entire creative process has been filmed (the film forms part of the documentary archives of the Arranz-Bravo Foundation) from a blank canvas to the final touches of the painting.

This work is for the moment, the latest incorporation to the archives of the Arranz-Bravo Foundation. The contrast of crosses and straight lines with the sinuous shapes of a radically human root reaches an analysis of incorporated colour, establishing a kind of rigorous pictorial dialogue within the space.

The Abraçades (Embraces) series were created when Arranz-Bravo –after several years of working with Rafael Bartolozzi- re-initiated his career as an individual artist. The carnality, sensuality and expressiveness of the shapes are heightened by a marked freedom expression which accentuates the forceful nature of the subject matter. This series has comprised the some of Arranz-Bravo’s most important exhibitions.

Sodden has always formed a part of all Arranz-Bravo’s anthological exhibitions. The word “sodden” is written on a strange elephant in one of the canvasses. The title of the work refers to a piece of paper which the artist found in the streets of Cadaqués with the word written on it, and which resulted in a series of images with a high level of formal complexity.

The Arranz-Bravo Foundation holds a collection of seven self-portraits from the fifties and the work Pintor a cavall (Painter on a Horse), from 2006, which is a self-portrait, although not in the conventional sense. 

The 1958 self-portrait with Arranz-Bravo at the age of 17 reflects the same intensity and force of the forms found in the self-portraits of Albrecht Durer, although transferred to the light of the Mediterranean.

In 1961, on reaching his twentieth birthday, Arranz-Bravo, began a pictorical investigation with colour and light which he returned to six years later, in 1967.

In 1961, on reaching his twentieth birthday, Arranz-Bravo, began a pictorical investigation with colour and light which he returned to six years later, in 1967.

During the years 1964, 1965 and 1966, Arranz-Bravo worked on a style which he broke with in 1967. This portrait of the poet Francesc Parcerisas is part of this colourful, figurative style and a reflection of Venetian and Renaissance techniques.

In a certain sense this is an emblematic work in the career of Arranz-Bravo. It is the beginning of his pictorial world at a time when abstract painting was supreme as part of the modernist movement. The work is the beginning of the so-called “new figuration” technique. 

In 1967, at the age of 26, Arranz-Bravo exhibited his work at the famous Sala Gaspar in Barcelona, in an exhibition which included Rafael Bartolozzi, Robert Llimós and Gerard Sala. 

He began his intense work with painting, sculpture and engraving which he continues to this day.

In 1966 the French writer Claude Boursignac wrote a text for a catalogue of Arranz-Bravo’s work (one of the 500 catalogues and books on the artist to be found in the documentary archives of the Arranz-Bravo Foundation) describing, with marked sensitivity, the poetry within the work of Arranz-Bravo. 

Two years later, through an overdose of barbiturates, Claude Boursignac committed suicide. His death deeply affected the painter. 

As a result of this disturbing event, Arranz-Bravo painted Baba, baber, barbi, barbituri in which the force of his sentiments reflect the tragic moment of his friend’s personal decision.

Arranz-Bravo held various exhibitions and undertook several actions in the garden of his home at Vallvidrera with Rafael Bartolozzi. This work was painted for exhibition in the open air. White Shapes comprises a whole range of shapes and contrasts which form part of the pictorial world of Arranz-Bravo and which link together with nature and the cosmos.

The Visitors series (which Arranz-Bravo has kept for himself and of which there are 8 works in the Foundation) was initially conceived for exhibitions in Germany, however these works have been presented in various countries over the years.
The advertising agent Pepo Sol, friend of the artist and his neighbour in the town of Cadaqués, was one of the most important organisers for the Barcelona Olympic Games. Pepo and his wife are portrayed with a dramatic light which enters from one side. The curious addition of the head of another Italian friend, placed on the table is a surprising addition and has no relationship to the couple.
The irony of this work is present throughout the entire series of Los Visitantes (The Visitors).

Angelo has a delicate range of whites and green-greys on a bright, smooth, red background. The sarcastic expression of the angel provokes a strange contrast with the marked presence of the wings and a series of hands. Hands and eyes are obsessively repeated elements in the paintings of Arranz-Bravo.

From the end of the eighties Arranz-Bravo’s work was exhibited abroad with a marked degree of success, especially in the United States, Germany and France. He therefore decided to create a series of works which referred to the “Latin” concept, a cultural idea which includes many Mediterranean countries, their peoples, traditions and history.

Colour, a feature of great importance in the work of Arranz-Bravo, is a distinguishing part of this work. The greens and blues form an almost audible contrast with black and red. The title is an apt one.

The Arranz-Bravo Foundation has a drawing of a horse rider made in 1950 when the artist was nine years old. The figure of the equestrian rider is a common feature in the pictorial works of Arranz-Bravo. Apart from Horse man, the Arranz-Bravo Foundation has Pintor a cavall (Painter on a Horse) a large-format work of the same subject.

Arranz-Bravo lived in the town of Cadaqués from 1985 to 1992, where he experimented with disturbing shapes which arose from a deeply-held artistic strength. This force is present in the works David, Seagull and Prima Pantocrator, the latter work reflects the light of Cadaqués.

The famous Galeria Cadaqués of Lanfranco Bombelli, which organised more than twelve Arranz-Bravo exhibitions, asked the painter to produce a series of 50 works on the number 50 with a series of paintings on paper and oil paintings in order to celebrate his fiftieth birthday. Series 50 Number 44 is one of these works. The obsessive presence of the colour, locally known as “Cadaqués Blue” in work number 0 of the series is remarkable.

Home is a reference to the English word and not the Catalan word for man (home). The domestic items (the work is painted on a rug and a food mixer forms part of the piece) make this work unique and it is perhaps one of the few works by Arranz-Bravo which incorporates household items.

The mother of the artist at the age of 60. The painter was 19 years old.
Within the tenderness of the technique, the contrast of the light and the carefully utilised range of greys in the hair, dress and background lend the work a strangely poetic and unreal air.