Julio Gonzalez (1876-1942)

González was born into an old family of decorative metalsmiths, whose traditions stretched back at least two generations. At the age of fifteen he joined his older brother Joan in his father's shop, and as an apprentice learned to cut, hammer and forge all kinds of metal, making jewelry and decorative objects. At first his training as craftsman and technician tended to inhibit individual creative expression, and González was keenly aware that there was wide divide between fine art sculpture and his own wares. But in Paris his skills would prove singularly valuable to progressive sculptors, such as Constantin Brancusi and Pablo Picasso, collaborations with whom enabled him to express his personal vision in sculpture.