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An
original feature, a kind of sign of Serra's identity, has
been the experimentation with metallic reflection techniques.
It is a must to say that from its inception, there was a preoccupation
of a technical dimension and also of other aspects which surrounded
the baking process and pigments. Antonio Serra y Fiter studied
and investigated the techniques and colours at high temperatures,
an investigation which has been carried on by successive generations
concentrating itself in the technique of metallic reflections.
The
technique of metal reflections, is an ancient technique, cultivated
by the Arabians using three colours, but the Serras developed
this with all the ensuing consequences to obtain about twenty
colours. In the shown cases one can observe
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this
course of events, a course which begins with very primitive
pieces in which the technique of metal reflection manifests
itself in a timid form, until the refinement and enrichment
of shades and colours of the most recent works.
One
of the most catered themes at the maturity phase, when the
Serras acquired a great command of the metal reflection technique,
is a course taken which allowed for unlimited possibilities
and effects. Thus, Josep Serra Abella in his last creative
surge brings back decoration with new motifs, plants and specialising
in geometric shapes, which seem to look for a synthesis between
ceramics and embelishment, which goes beyond methods strictly
related to pictorial matters.
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Another
important aspect, which runs parallel in the search of metallic
reflections, has been the vindication of decoration in ceramics.
For the Serra brothers ceramic decoration is a must. We can
find excellent examples, in the volume of their production and
their conception of ceramics is found in decoration. Why? themselves
are artistically ambitious, they feel and are artists. Moreover:
since ancient times ceramics has been decorated; decorating
ceramics is, as it always was, a latent possibility; the Serras
took advantage of it. |
