LIBRO CERCLE

55 TheCircleandartisticpractice T his is the areawededicatemost resources to: the soul of theRoyal ArtisticCircle, and its essence from the outset. A place to learn andmakeworks of art, to share space, models, knowledge and attitudes to create art. Whatwasoriginallybornasanartists’ club in1881soonbecameaplace topractiseart, wheremodels, knowledge and preoccupations were shared. It was in 1892 when the decisionwas taken to teachclasses,whichgave theCircleamoreacademiccharacter, somethingwe have recovered today. In 1939, when it could already ostent its denom- ination as the Barcelona Royal Artistic Circle, it incorporated the title of Barcelona Art Institute with the aim of remaining true to its original sense. As such, despite the time that has passed it has flawlesslymaintained its original spirit and vocation. Some of its founders and followers belonging to Barcelona’s Modernista generation have attainedworld fame, such as Santiago Rusiñol or Ramón Casas, just tomention some of the better-known names. Their workshops were home to meetings between nearlyall theartist of the time, togetherwithmusiciansand the literati, creatinga liberal artistic nucleus, pioneering in its conception. This is the philosophy followed by the Circle at themoment. Nowadays the workshops have been split into two large areas: traditional workshops separated by discipline: drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking, where the art- ists are invited to practise freely and the others which are the interdisciplinary artistic learningworkshops by the Barcelona Art Institute, where artistic practice is reinforced by teaching art theory. In the drawing workshops with a dressed or nude model placed in the centre of the classroom there are sketching sessions with frequent pose changes alternated with longer-lasting sessions for detailed drawing. By contrast, in the painting classes with a model the pose is fixed for longer to attain the figurative side of the work. Another paintingworkshop -‘still lifes’- where themodels do not move, inanimate or imagined. Sculpting isalsodonewithaposedmodel for thoseartists that prefer threedimensions in their artistic language. There isaprintmakingstudiowithall themedianeeded toprint as an artistic expression. In theBarcelonaArt Instituteworkshops artisticpracticehas theaimof an interdiscipli- nary learningof art. Theseareeclecticspaceswithmediaadapted to theartisticproject of each student under the tutelageof a teacher. Theybring together the line to follow in terms of studying the periods or artistic styles that make up the course, the project to be carried out in each other credits, the creative process, monitoring how the artwork ismadeandafinal critique. Thisalsocovers training inpromotingandcommercialising thework thanks to the public display rooms. TheCircle understands that artistic prac- ticehas to cover thewidebases of themodernconception of art. Being able to enjoy space, materials, models, talks, courses, conferences, libraries, exhibitions, prizes and cultural events of differing artistic and cultural expressions in a liberal, educated and pleased atmosphere in the centre of Barcelona is the work that the Circle carries out to attain all the objectives needed to develop the practise of art and the consolidation of the function of the artist.