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Jaume Sabartes i Gual ( Catalan : Jaume Sabartes i Gual , Spanish : Jaime Sabartes y Gual , born in Barcelona , 10 June 1881 - died in Paris , 12 February 1968), was a Catalan Spanish artist, poet and writer. He was a close friend of Pablo Picasso and later became his secretary/administrator.

Early life [ edit ]

Sabartes was born at 84 Sant Pere Mes Baix Street in Barcelona (carrer de Sant Pere Mes Baix, 84). His father, Francisco Sabartes Obach, was a primary school teacher originally from Oliana . His mother, Maria Gual Oromi, was born in Barcelona. According to Francoise Gilot , Sabartes was a cousin of Joan Miro . In 1901 Sabartes studied fine arts and sculpture under Manuel Fuxa at the Escola de la Llotja and under the pen name of Jacobus Sabartes wrote prose and poetry and collaborated with the Joventut magazine. He was a regular at the Quatre Gats cafe, and he was part of Picasso’s group in Barcelona and Paris. ^[1]

Time in Guatemala [ edit ]

Sabartes moved to Quezaltenango , Guatemala in 1904 to stay with his maternal uncle Francisco Gual Oromi (1872-1931), who was a businessman. There he published articles in local newspapers such as Diario de los Altos and El Tecolote . On 11 January 1908, Sabartes married Rosa Corzo Robles, who was the daughter of the owners of the house where he resided. The family moved to New York in 1912 but returned to Guatemala in 1913. Their son, Mario de Jesus Sabartes Robles, was born in 1914. They moved to Guatemala City in 1920, where he worked for the Alliance Francaise and became the first teacher of perspective and of history of art at the National Academy of Fine Arts, while continuing to contribute to different newspapers, such as the Diario de Centro America . During his time in Guatemala, Sabartes organised several major exhibitions of modern art featuring Picasso and other artists, as well as participating in the intellectual life of the capital, taking part in regular intellectual gatherings and discussions and establishing friendships with artists such as Carlos Valenti , Carlos Merida , Humberto Garavito, Rafael Yela Gunther and Rafael Arevalo Martinez , among others. During the celebrations of the centenary of Guatemalan independence Sabartes was on the jury for an art prize which was won by Humberto Garavito. ^{[2] [3]}

Return to Spain [ edit ]

After some 23 years in Guatemala, Sabartes returned to Barcelona in 1927 with his family to obtain medical treatment for his son. Sabartes separated from his wife in 1928, leaving her his wealth, and eloped with his girlfriend from youth, Mercedes Iglesias. They travelled to Paris to visit Picasso and request financial support to embark for Montevideo, Uruguay , where Sabartes practiced journalism for the newspaper El Dia .

Association with Picasso [ edit ]

According to Paula Canto, "Picasso and Sabartes were born in the same year, 1881. They met [in 1899] when they were studying at the Llotja art school of Barcelona, and they were both regulars at Els Quatre Gats, where the youngest artistic circle of Barcelona would gather." ^[4]

Sabartes and Picasso remained close until the former's death. In 1899, Picasso painted his first portrait of Sabartes, which is now in the Pushkin Museum , Moscow. At Picasso's request, Sabartes moved back to Europe from Uruguay, settling at rue La Boetie in Paris in November 1935, and became Picasso's full-time secretary, organising his papers, books and poems, ^[5] and was responsible for arranging his exhibitions. Sabartes collected a great many works by Picasso which he donated to the Museu Picasso in Barcelona in 1963, forming the original core of this museum (together with works donated by the artist himself), which was initially known as the Sabartes Collection because Francoist Spain would not have approved of a museum by the name of Picasso, an outspoken enemy of the Francoist government. ^[6] Sabartes' books and papers were donated to the Museo Picasso Malaga .

Legacy [ edit ]

In 2007, Barcelona City Council gave the name of Placa Sabartes to the new remodelled urban space behind the Picasso Museum, between the streets of Montcada and Flassaders. In 2008, the Museu Picasso opened a new Sabartes Room, which includes a new acquisition: a portrait of Sabartes as a faun, dated 1946.

Sources [ edit ]

• Who was Sabartes? by Carol Sutton, Carolsutton.net, last updated 22 August 2005.
• LUJAN, Luis. “Jaime Sabartes en Guatemala: 1904-1927”. Serviprensa Centroamericana, Guatemala, 30 de julio de 1981, p. 44
• portraits of Sabartes by Picasso
• Biography of Sabartes from the Museu Picasso

This article is translated from the corresponding articles in the Spanish, Catalan and Russian wikipedias.

External links [ edit ]

• Works by or about Jaime Sabartes at Internet Archive