Manuel Cusachs i Xivillé. Mataró (Barcelona 1933 – 2019).

Manuel Cusachs i Xivillé. Mataró (Barcelona) August 18, 1933 - Mataró, February 14, 2019.

He began his artistic training at the drawing school of Manuel Cuyàs. He soon acquired a solid foundation in painting and artistic perspective. He was a contemporary of Ricard Opisso and leaned towards caricature and portraiture. However, direct contact with granite in the quarries of his region, Maresme, definitively inclined him towards sculpture.

Funded in Italy, he furthered his studies in Perugia, later in Valldemosa (Mallorca) with the sculptor Joan Rebull, and with visits to the major museums of Europe. He formed friendships with writer Josep Pla and poets and literati of our country, whom he incorporated into his very personal and culturally rich artistic world.

Portraiture and the human figure are constants in his work, as is religious sculpture. His public works are of particular significance. His pieces are part of the art collections of official bodies and private collections in Europe, the USA, and Asia.

In 2001, the Government of Catalonia awarded him the Creu de Sant Jordi. He was an academic at the Royal Catalan Academy of Fine Arts of Sant Jordi. He was an honorary citizen of Òrrius (Barcelona).

Married to Ma Teresa Colomer, he had five children and six grandchildren.