Raimon Casellas

Raimon Casellas i Dou (Barcelona, January 7, 1855 – Sant Joan de les Abadesses, November 2, 1910) was a Catalan journalist, art critic, modernisme narrator and collector. Author of Els sots feréstecs (1901), a work considered the first modernist novel in Catalan language and a forerunner of the current known as rural naturalism. Els sots feréstecs was translated to English by Alan Yates and published by Dedalus.[1]

Raimon Casellas
Portrait of Raimon Casellas by Ramon Casas
Born	(1855-01-07)January 7, 1855 Barcelona
Died	November 2, 1910(1910-11-02) (aged 55) Sant Joan de les Abadesses
Occupation	writer
Notable work	Dark Vales (Els sots feréstecs)

He also wrote articles about aesthetics and art criticism for magazines like L'Avenç, La Vanguardia, L'Esquella de la Torratxa and Cucut!. In 1899 he became the Chief Editor of the newspaper La Veu de Catalunya, and his articles greatly influenced the Catalan artists of his time.[2]

Els sots feréstecs, published in 1901 tells the story of father Llàtzer, a city bishop who is exiled to a rural parish for doctrinal heresy, and the upset that his arrival causes among the inhabitants of Sant Pau de Montmany. The premise of the story is a metaphor for the failure of the intellectual modernist movement to transform society.[1]

Casellas was also an art collector. His collection is now preserved at Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. It includes more than 4,000 drawings and nearly 400 engravings representing the work of 250 artists.[3]