Terracotta Sculpture By Serafin Marsal XX

Caahï jhá ñeengatú polychrome sculpture XX by Serafin Marsal (Cardona, Spain 1862- Asuncion 1956). Inscription in Guarani. One forearm missing on the central figure. After six years of study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Barcelona, Marsal moved to Buenos Aires where several French, Italian and Spanish artists in the field of sculpture and metal engraving became famous. In 1898, Marsal received third prize at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Buenos Aires. The following year, he accepted an invitation to teach drawing and sculpture in Santa Fé. There, Marsal participated in urban planning, the production of sculptures and became part of the artistic and cultural life of the city. One of his sculptures, a bust of the educator named Sarmento, remains in the square dedicated to the teacher. In 1907, at the age of 46 and highly recognized in the artistic field, Marsal moved to Asunción in Paraguay according to medical recommendations, due to the health problems experienced by his wife. In this small town, he had to face economic difficulties because orders were scarcer. He taught at the School of Arts. Even without orders, Marsal began to produce small clay statues that represented the Paraguayan people with perfection. Handmade with clay from the Picolmayo River, each statuette represented a typical figure of the Paraguayan people with a variety of details and beautiful finishes. Marsal made each figure a mold from which he extracted the essential piece. However, his method was not a multi-piece system, so the finish of each piece was done by hand, and one was different from the other. In addition to the beauty and careful finish, his pieces have an important historical value, since they represent typical figures of a period. These are social representations.