Els Majas i alguns altres - a selection of photographs by Josep Masana, circa 1925-35

 

Sense títol - Maja fumant.

Historically, the majos (masculine) and majas (feminine) - also manolo/manola - were people from the Spanish  lower classes, especially in Madrid, who distinguished themselves by their edgy stylishness and sometimes rowdy behavior; their costume an exaggeration of traditional Spanish dress, they were the Spanish "hipsters" of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. They feature in many of Goya's paintings, and inspired artists well into the nineteenth century; the operatic character Carmen is usually dressed in some variation of  the maja costume. And as Spain became more of a tourist destination in the 1910s and 1920s, the image of the maja - fan in hand, a black lace mantilla studded with carnations - came to be seen as representative of the typical Spanish woman. The stereotype - the appearance of the maja now somewhat blended with that of the flamenco dancer - was particularly pervasive in advertising. And also, especially after the turn of the twentieth century, with Catholic Spain displaying slightly more liberal attitudes, the icon was now often frankly eroticized. Massana was Catalan but appears to have embraced the trend, and his work often features this updated vision of the "generic" Spanish woman.

Sense títol - Maja asseguda amb mantellina.

Sense títol - Maja somrient.

Sense títol.

Sense títol.

 Sense títol - Maja nua.

Tipo español.

Vorágine (vortex.)

 Nu amb una còpia de la «Venus de Milo».

Variant print of the above.

Sense títol - Estudi sobre la «Venus de Milo».

Maja española.

Sense títol - Estudi de nu amb escultura.

Sense títol - Maja fumant. Variant print of the first photograph in this post.

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Josep Masana (16 May 1892, Granollers - 4 January 1979, Barcelona), Spanish photographer, specializing in portraiture, photojournalism, and advertising photography. He first worked in a pictorialist style, staging images of nudes and allegorical and mythological compositions. He received a gold medal at the International Exhibition of Barcelona in 1929. His work in advertising began the following year, and would constitute, almost exclusively, the remainder of his output; his work in that field - bold and imaginative - has come to be regarded as high art.