As a complement to the porcelain and giftware business, in December 1942, Hugo Vinçon decided to open Sala Vinçon. It was an art gallery, also with an entrance on Passeig de Gràcia but independent from the store. In the gallery, individual and collective exhibitions of local artists were held every two weeks or so. They were mainly figurative landscape paintings, portraits or still lifes of a decorative nature that could help stimulate the store’s sales. The space, classic and conventional, was decorated with dark-colored curtains and walls, carpeted floors and a bench to observe the works. Access from the street was through a corridor with showcases that presented a selection of the best products that could be purchased in the store.
We know that Jacinto Amat’s role in this new initiative was important, as he became the dealer for some of the artists exhibited in the gallery, as evidenced by various accounting documents kept in the Vinçon archive. Photographs of some of the inaugurations and celebrations in which Amat appears with various artists and personalities linked to the world of art and culture also corroborate this.
Sala Vinçon remained open between 1942 and 1949 and some of the artists who showed their work were: Francesc Domingo, Bosch Roger, Juan Commeleran, Nuria Llimona or Francesc Todó. Jacinto Amat counted on the advice of the art critic and painter Rafael Benet for the selection of the artists and the organization of the exhibitions.
At the end of the 1940s, Hugo Vinçon decided to close the gallery, but Amat continued his work as an art dealer until his death in 1967. During this period, in which he did not have an exhibition space, he organized, for example, an exhibition in the Galerías San Jorge, also located in Passeig de Gràcia, of the Barbey collection, which included works by artists such as Picasso, Dalí and Nonell.
The gallery had its own image that was used in catalogs, invitations and advertisements in the press, which changed on two occasions. For the inaugural season (1942-1943) the gallery’s initials were used superimposed to form an image similar to a trophy. At the beginning of the 1943-1944 season, the first change was made, which consisted of the use of the complete name of the hall in bold letters. It is a typography similar to the one used on the Hugo Vinçon Gifts sign, which is probably adopted with the intention of making the public associate both spaces.
But at the beginning of the 1944-1945 season, a new change is made in the typography, which is completely different from the previous one, trying to give it a modern air and a certain personality, introducing a small wink by replacing the cedilla of the c with a comma. This logo would remain until the closing of the space in 1949.
M. José Balcells
Documentation Department
Design Museum
