The National Archives of Catalonia hosts "Books, photo books and catalogs of Francesc Català-Roca"

The National Archives of Catalonia hosts, until May 26, the exhibition Books, photobooks and catalogs by Francesc Català-Roca, promoted by the center as part of the official year commemorating the centenary of his birth and coinciding with the celebration of Sant Jordi

Curated by Manuel Guerrero, the exhibition recovers some of the little-known aspects of Català-Roca's photographic production, such as the book. And it is that a very relevant part of the work of Francesc Català-Roca has its origin in the book. These publishing commissions allow him to travel and interact in a very wide way and mark his career as a creator in a decisive way. Although some of the productions in which he intervened enjoyed great popularity, this fact is little known and recognized.

Photobooks such as Barcelona (1954), Madrid (1954), Cuenca. Guide to Cuenca and the main itineraries of its province (1956), Costa Brava (1958), Bullfighting (1962), Esgrafiados de Picasso (1965), Los espacios de Chillida (1973), Sert Architecture at the Miró Foundation (1976), Francesc Català-Roca, photographs: artists, architecture, characters, bulls (1982), Personajes de los años 50 (1984), Miró. Ninety years (1984), Valls, capital of the Alt Camp (1991) or Foto-grafías A-cromáticas (1995), consecrate Català-Roca as one of the most outstanding authors of his generation.

Francesc Català-Roca is probably the author of the most essential books and photobooks in the history of photography in Catalonia and Spain during the second half of the 20th century and a true master of subsequent generations.

It is for this reason that we wanted to sort them out, identify and collect 116 bibliographic copies with the strong seal of the photographer and present them together in this exhibition that will allow us to study his photobooks in more depth, make them known and be able -evaluate them alongside the most important examples from the international arena.

The exhibition also makes it possible to highlight the value of the bibliographic heritage preserved in the National Archives, where a large part of the works come from (gathered in many cases from personal funds linked to the field of art and architecture ), which have been complemented by temporary loans from the same curator of the exhibition, Andreu Català and Pedersen, the Official College of Architects of Catalonia (COAC), the Joan Prats Gallery, Juan Naranjo, Jordi París and Andreu Teixidor from Ventós

Francesc Català-Roca

Francesc Català-Roca (Valls, 1922 - Barcelona, 1998) is considered the most important Catalan photographer of the 20th century, at the level of the first figures of universal photography of his time. The father, Pere Català i Pic, introduced him to the new ideas of communication through images of the European avant-gardes. After working alongside him in the Propaganda Commissariat of the Generalitat de Catalunya during wartime and later in the family studio, he became independent in 1947. Since then he deployed all the skills of a professional photographer as reporter for publications, as an illustrator and as an industrial photographer of all kinds, portraitist of personalities, author of numerous books on very varied subjects and collaborator with artists and writers.

Francesc Català-Roca, wanting to capture everyday reality, elevated documentary photography to the category of art. In 1953 he held the first exhibition and his way of understanding the image influenced a whole generation indebted to his way of understanding the social function of the photographer. His photographic archive, with more than 250,000 images, deposited in the archive of the Official College of Architects of Catalonia, is one of the most relevant in the country.

Distinguished with the Barcelona City Award (1951 and 1952), he was the first photographer to receive the National Visual Arts Award from the Spanish Ministry of Culture (1983). In 1992 he received the Medal for Artistic Merit, the National Prize for Plastic Arts and the Cross of Sant Jordi. His work has traveled the world, with exhibitions in Europe, America and Asia. It has been the subject of major retrospective exhibitions at the Miró Foundation (2000) and La Pedrera (2012), as well as at the Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid (2013).