Inauguration of Benet Sarsanedas (8th january 2016)

Benet Sarsanedas! A kind man, a country man, in love with nature, whose face exudes goodness, veteran painter and very loved at the Rusiñol Gallery. All that is reflected in his paintings (he has brought the best of his work). Ignasi Cabanas praises him with warm words of appreciation.

The current exhibition at the Rusiñol Gallery, since its very first moment, has had a big impact and it attracts the gaze irresistibly. In fact, thanks to its powerful colours, its remarkable texture and the movement of the landscapes the viewer has the feeling of having entered into nature that expresses the fullness of life and its purity.

Mr. Josep M. Cadena confirms all that Ignasi has said. Cadena says that he knows this painter very well, since the years when they met in the legendary snack-bar called “La Punyalada” (very famous in Barcelona). Cadena expresses our feeling when he says that, watching this exhibition, one feels that «a gust of air is passing by… Benet is a painter of the forest».

Sarsanedas is a soul of our country; he was born in Rupit (Vic). «He knows nature very well and he loves it for the things that happen in it, for its mobility. When one is watching his paintings then one has the sensation of leaves making noise, the grass moved by the air… They are active paintings: Benet’s hand sets a moment, but they are moments that keep occurring. One detail, one example: in the sky —which is smaller than the earth— we see clouds ascending…».

The speech of Benet Sarsanedas —a discreet man of few words— begins and finishes with his thanksgiving for our interest in his work. However Mr. Cabanas, on asking more questions, was able to get more explanations. —You began as a carpenter. How did you arrive to art? —I am not the first carpenter who paints! I realized that art is what dignifies more the man. For this reason I want to do art. Painting is not easy, it is like chess. It was a chance for me! I like it because it lets me ascend…». —You are like an “enlightened farmer”, Cabanas said finally.

The topic of the chess!: it isn’t by chance. Here you have the true story: one day, Josep M. Cadena visited his friend Benet at his house, and met him in front of a chessboard. So, Cadena asked him: —Are you waiting for anyone else? —No, but I am playing it on the phone, Benet answered… Other questions of the attendees got longer explanations from Sarsanedas: about his painters of reference (many, above all some particular details of Goya, Velázquez…); the amount of paintings he has drawn (many, because I have been painting for more than 50 years); the needed time in order to complete a picture (no one knows, for a picture is ended when someone carries it away!).