JOSEP SEGRELLES: FC BARCELONA'S 25TH ANNIVERSARY POSTER

Josep Segrelles Albert, a distinguished Valencian illustrator born in Albaida, moved to Barcelona in 1904 to further his painting studies at the Escola Superior d'Art La Llotja. By 1911, after settling in Barcelona, La Vanguardia described him as "an excellent promise that could become a reality".

During this time, Josep Segrelles became a member of FC Barcelona. His first collaboration with the club came in 1922 when he designed the poster for the inauguration of the newly built Les Corts stadium.

The relationship between Segrelles and FC Barcelona would continue throughout the 1920s, but his most important work was the poster for the club's Silver Anniversary in 1924. EL RETROVISOR, which holds a collection of all the preparatory sketches, showcases a spectacular set of pencil drawings, most of them in large format, that are arguably even more striking than the final poster. These sketches reveal Segrelles's intuition, doubts, proposals, framing and other traces of the creative process.

After his association with FC Barcelona, the Valencian illustrator began collaborating with foreign magazines, achieving success first in London and later in New York. Eventually, he returned to Spain, settling in his hometown, Albaida, where he lived until his death in 1969. During this period, he produced much of his work and transformed his studio/house into a museum, which remains open to visitors today.