Pèl & Ploma

Pèl & Ploma was a Catalan artistic and literary journal that published 100 issues within four years between the dates of June 3, 1899 and December 1, 1903. Catalan artists Ramón Casas and Miquel Utrillo ran the publication together, based out of the city of Barcelona. Casas financed the publication as well as provided the majority of covers, illustrations, and advertisements for each issue, while Utrillo directed the publication’s literary components.

Pèl & Ploma is preceded by the journal Quatre Gats and succeeded by the journal Forma, which were both Catalan publications of the same genre. Together, these three journals provided a platform for Catalan Modernism, Pèl & Ploma being the longest-running and most popular of the three. Although it ceased circulation over a century ago, original issues and artworks of Pèl & Ploma are preserved today places such as the National Library of Catalonia and the National Art Museum of Catalonia.

In the first issue of Pèl & Ploma, Utrillo explained that the publication’s title, which translates to “Hair & Feather” in English, had nothing to do with what it would publish; however, if one so wished, they could interpret “pèl”, or “hair” in Catalan, as “paintbrush” and “ploma”, or “feather” in Catalan, as a pen, thus referring to the magazine’s display of art and prose.

The Catalan press originated during the 17th and 18th centuries and became widespread with publications such as Caxón de Sastre Cathalán, a magazine published around 1761. However, the modern magazine was not seen in circulation until the early 20th century. Around this time, Catalonia was experiencing the birth of a national conscience that was translated into two different genres of the modern Catalan magazine: literary and popular.

Literary magazines greatly contributed to the artistic and literary movements of the early 20th century, despite their struggles to attract a steady readership. In Catalonia, they promoted and documented what was occurring at the time in the worlds of Catalan art and literature. Among the first modern magazines of Catalonia were the three literature and art reviews directed by Ramon Casas and Miquel Utrillo: Quatre Gats, Pèl & Ploma, and Forma.

Quatre Gats, the first of the three publications headed by the pair of artists, began circulation in 1899. The title Quatre Gats comes from the famous Els Quatre Gats café, which was a cultural hub at the time for modernist artists in Barcelona that the men frequented until it closed in 1903. Like the café, the magazine was a space for the growth and exploration of Catalan modernism. The team released an issue every week from February through May of that year, releasing its last issue on May 25.

...
Wikipedia