Joaquín Torres García
Uruguay (1874—1949)Born in Montevideo but raised in Barcelona, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and the Baixas Academy. He began his career painting murals and collaborated with Antoni Gaudí on the Sagrada Familia, while also developing his interest in art education and decorative design. In 1913 he founded the School of Decorative Arts in Sarrià. In 1918, forced to abandon a long-standing project, he turned to the design of wooden toys before moving to New York and returning to painting. In 1929 he co-founded the Cercle et Carré group with Michel Seuphor, while the group’s magazine was published in Paris in 1930. After returning to Montevideo in 1934, he founded the Asociación de Arte Constructivo and, in 1936, launched the magazine Círculo y Cuadrado as a continuation of Cercle et Carré. In 1942 he created the Taller Torres García, and in 1944 published his theories in Universalismo Constructivo, his major theoretical work.
