FRANCISCO JAVIER GOSÉ ROVIRA (Alcalá de Henares, 1876 - Lleida, 1915)."Lady".Charcoal on paper.

FRANCISCO JAVIER GOSÉ ROVIRA (Alcalá de Henares, 1876 - Lleida, 1915).
"Lady".
Charcoal on paper.
Signed with a testamentary seal at the bottom.
Discolouration on the paper.
Size: 17 x 14.5 cm; 32.5 x 28 cm (frame).
Javier Gosé's style oscillates between modernism and French art-deco, reflecting the life of Parisian society. Inspired by the worldly life of the café-concerts, the prostitutes, the horse races, the sportsmen and the well-known Montmartre, his style reflects the finesse and delicacy of French society at the time, although it is not without a certain mischievousness characteristic of carefree Paris.
Francisco Javier Gosé was an essential draughtsman and painter in the world of graphics and fashion in the transition from the 19th to the 20th century. He studied in Barcelona, where he was assistant to the draughtsman José Luis Pellicer. From a very early age he collaborated in Barcelona publications, from "La Esquella de la Torratxa" and "La saeta", in which his attachment to modernism is clear, to "Mundial Magazine" and "Fémina", where a pre-cubist line can already be seen. His first exhibition was held at Els Quatre Gats. During his Barcelona period he portrayed the proletariat, although in 1900 he travelled to Paris, where he collaborated with "La vie Illustrée" and "Le frou-frou", among others. He exhibited in the Barcelona galleries Parés and Dalmau, the Vilches gallery (Madrid), Georges Petit and Ritlinger (both in Paris). Up to this point his works showed a satirical and realistic view of the bourgeoisie, snobs and prostitutes, although this view changed in 1907, when he began a more stylised, less realistic and less ironic period, above all because of his entry into the world of fashion, in which Gosé sought to set a trend among women in society. His period in Paris was the turning point in his life and artistic production, as the French capital was the place where he broadened his knowledge, becoming a successful artist who would obtain interesting commissions as an illustrator for the best satirical magazines. In 1910 he began to collaborate with German magazines such as "Ulk". In 1914 the First World War broke out, a circumstance which, together with serious health problems, deprived him of the elegant Parisian environment, and he moved to the city of Vichy, famous for its spas. Shortly afterwards Gosé moved back to Barcelona, spending the last days of his life in Lleida. His posthumous exhibitions include the one at the Círculo Artístico in the same year as his death, the retrospective at the Rovira gallery (1970) and the one at the Fundación La Caixa (1984). He is represented in the Museums of Modern Art in Barcelona and Madrid, among others.