149 years since the birth of Alexandre Cardunets

Alexandre Cardunets i Cazorla (Barcelona 1871 – Badalona 1944) was born on November 13th, 149 years ago, and to commemorate this, we comment on one of the works signed by him, preserved in the Museum’s collections.

Motorcycles and sidecars Patria

[1922-1936]

by Alexandre Cardunets i Cazorla (Barcelona 1871 – Badalona 1944)

A motorcyclist with a companion, sitting in the sidecar, is driving on the road in a mountainous area, where you can see trees and, located at the bottom of a valley, a village with a church and a castle. Perspective indicates that the road is uphill, and that the motorbike travels safely and without difficulty.

As can be deduced from what can be read at the top and bottom of the work, it is an advertising watercolor (to make a poster or perhaps an advertisement in the press) of the motorcycles and sidecars Pàtria, which they were manufactured in Badalona between 1922 and 1936, and which achieved a remarkable prestige.

The Museum preserves another version of this work, which is identical in terms of drawing, but without coloring (MB inv. 14542).

The author, Alexandre Cardunets, was a draftsman, engraver and painter. He studied at the Llotja and in different European countries. He was the founder of the Friends of Old Art and president of the Foment de les Arts Decoratives (1923) and of the Real Cercle Artístic de Barcelona (1927).

The Museum of Badalona preserves several paintings, drawings and engravings made by Cardunets, including the portrait of Francesc Macià, several landscapes and seven lithographs from the much-appreciated series that the artist dedicated to urban views of ancient Barcelona. .