FRANCESC SARDÀ LADICÓ (Barcelona, 1877 - 1912). "Military parade". Charcoal on paper. Signed in the lower right-hand corner. Size: 47 x 74 cm; 56 x 82,5 cm (frame). Francesc Sardà trained at the Baixas Academy in his native city. When he finished his artistic studies, together with his law degree, he went to Madrid, where he spent a long period studying at the Prado Museum, paying special attention to the works of Velázquez. He then went to Paris, where he studied at the city s leading academies. As a painter he was noted for his oil portraits, although he was particularly successful as a draughtsman and illustrator. His works were highly appreciated in a solo exhibition at the Sala Parés in Barcelona in 1904, and his drawings - realistic and of great technical quality - were widely published in magazines of the period. He collaborated with "Quatre Gats", "Hispania", "Joventut", "Ilustració Levantina", "Catalunya Artística", "Hojas Selectas" and "La Campana Catalana" and also, on a regular basis, in important publications such as "L Esquella de la Torratxa", "La Ilustració Catalana" and "La Ilustració Artística", where he shared the limelight with the best illustrators of the time. He also collaborated with Spanish and German publishers. He lived a withdrawn life, always avoiding exhibitions, shut away in his studio, so he exhibited his work on very few occasions. However, after his premature death, his friends and admirers collected more than a hundred of his works and presented them in a posthumous exhibition in 1912. He is currently represented at the MACBA.