Antoni Clavé, born in Barcelona in 1913, is one of the major figures of 20th-century Spanish art. Trained at the Barcelona School of Fine Arts, he began his career as a decorative painter and illustrator before the Spanish Civil War disrupted his path. Forced into exile in 1939, he settled in Paris, where he found fertile ground to develop a free and deeply personal body of work.

Initially influenced by realism and illustration, Clavé quickly evolved towards a more expressive and experimental style of painting. His artistic language draws on materials, collage, and layering, incorporating sand, fabrics, and found objects in a constant quest for texture and depth. Marked by his encounter with Pablo Picasso, he gradually moved away from traditional figuration to explore a symbolic universe dominated by figures of kings, warriors, and imaginary portraits, imbued with melancholy and gravity.

Antoni Clavé has developed a powerful body of work in which color, texture, and gesture engage in a dialogue of great freedom. Internationally renowned, he exhibits in major institutions and has received numerous awards. His work, both somber and poetic, bears witness to a demanding modernity, nourished by exile, memory, and a profound fidelity to the act of painting.