A rigorous and documented biography of Antoni Gaudí
Francesc Torralba
Armand Puig’s latest book, *Antoni Gaudí, vida y obra* (Arpa & Alfil Editores), published in Barcelona in the autumn of 2024, is an exhaustive biography of the Architect of God.
To understand a creator’s work, it is essential to delve into their life, family roots, and historical context. This is precisely what Professor Armand Puig undertakes with rigor and detail in this voluminous monograph.
The book is divided into eight parts. The author traces the entire life of the brilliant architect, from his childhood, adolescence, and early youth in Reus to his death on June 10, 1926. He substantiates his claims with documentary evidence. As a seasoned biblical scholar, he knows that any assertion must be grounded in historical sources, and he supports his theses with facts and testimonies that validate them. This immensely arduous and painstaking task requires great patience and restraint, especially given that the subject was a figure who wrote very little—and even less about himself or the events of his life. We have neither a personal logbook nor a diary from Gaudí, unlike other creative figures; Gaudí is neither Pla nor Maragall.
Armand Puig has traced the stages of Gaudí’s life and explains the relationship between his life’s journey and his output as an architect—as a total artist.
In my view, this monograph is the most comprehensive and rigorous biography available of the father of the Sagrada Família. The biblical scholar and theologian from Tarragona delves into the subject’s family, landscape, and spiritual environment, revealing his Christian sources and his life of holiness and total dedication to his masterwork: the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Família. Armand Puig’s biography helps dispel clichés, stereotypes, and skewed perceptions of the genius from Baix Camp, while exploring the universe of his personal and professional relationships. A special place in this network belongs to the Bishop of Vic, Josep Torras i Bages, whom Antoni Gaudí regarded as a spiritual mentor and guide; the death of the author of *La tradició catalana* left him feeling orphaned.
Throughout the biography, the author reviews Antoni Gaudí’s major architectural creations and their connection to his symbolic world—rooted in Christianity and the liturgy of the Catholic Church—as well as to nature, a living and enduring source of inspiration for the artist from Reus. The book also helps us gain a proper understanding of the personality of a figure as enigmatic and mysterious as Antoni Gaudí—about whom so much has been said, often without real knowledge of the facts. It delves into his character and the mystical dimension that evolved, particularly following the illness he suffered in 1911, which marked a turning point in his life story.
It is no easy task to portray a genius, for every genius harbors a universe within—or rather, a divine spark. Armand Puig’s monograph is measured and avoids veering into fiction; he turns neither his hypotheses into dogma nor his intuitions into immutable truths. He brings us closer to the figure of Antoni Gaudí with affection yet also with critical detachment, allowing us to discover a man devoted to God and the Church—and in solidarity with the world’s poorest—who underwent an inner and outer transformation throughout his life, detaching himself from the world to focus on what was essential to him: glorifying God through his work.
