Celso Lagar Arroyo

The recorded working language is Spanish. Places of work recorded in the authority are Paris. Work by Celso Lagar Arroyo is recorded in the collections of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Sabadell Art Museum, National Museum of Fine Arts, Argentina and Ciudad Rodrigo.

• Name — Celso Lagar • Birth Name — Celso Lagar Arroyo • Born — 4 February 1891 • Birthplace — Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain • Died — 6 September 1966 • Place of death — Sevilla, Spain • Field — Painting, Sculpture • Movement — First Generation School of Paris • Spouse — Hortense Begué

Celso Lagar Arroyo was born in a small cathedral city Ciudad Rodrigo. In his early days, he went to Madrid to be part of the workshop of one of the best sculptors of the moment, Miguel Blay. During 1910 and 1911 he visited Barcelona. He later studied sculpture in Paris in 1911 on the advice of Blay. There he met Joseph Bernard, his friend Amedeo Modigliani and his future wife, the French sculptor, Hortense Begué. From then, he gradually abandoned sculpture in favor of painting. Lagar remained in Barcelona during the First World War, where he achieved a certain level of recognition. It allowed him to return to Paris, and 1919 he settled permanently in France. His works were exhibited in some of the notable Parisian galleries. After the period of avant-garde influences (Cubism, Fauvism, Vibrationism, Orphism, Divisionism, Ultraist), Lagar chose his own path, influenced by Goya and Picasso. His works from this time received critical and public recognition. With the Second World War, both Lagar and his wife Hortense became refugees in the French Pyrenees, with difficult living conditions and severe financial hardship. Hortense was admitted to the Broca hospital and in 1955 she died. Lagar fell into a deep depression after her death and was admitted to the Sainte Anne asylum: his artistic creativity succumbed. During this time, by court order, two auctions of the works which had been remaining in his workshop were held to pay for his care. In October 1964 he returned to Seville, Spain, living with his sister until his death on September 6, 1966.

His paintings are found in numerous museums throughout Europe, such as: La Rochelle, Goya Museum in Castres, Honfleur in France, Petit-Palais in Geneva, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the Lis House in Salamanca, Carmen Thyssen Museum in Málaga and even in the notable collections such as Crane Kalman in London or Zborowski in Paris. Some of his renowned works include: • La vida en el campo (Life in the Country) • El Retrato de Xavier Montsalvatge (The Portrait of Xavier Montsalvatge) • Ensayo de luz por el planismo o Retrato de nena (Essay of Light through Planism and Portrait of a Girl) • Desnudo (Naked) • Arlequins (Harlequins) • Jeune acrobate (Young acrobat) • Clowns et haltérophiles (Clowns and weightlifters) • Les bohémiens (Gypsies)

The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count.