Alexandre de Riquer i Inglada

Alexandre de Riquer i Inglada (Calaf, 1856 – Palma de Mallorca, 1920). One of the most versatile of the Art Nouveau artists, he was a poet, painter, illustrator, poster artist, engraver, decorator and collector.

He trained in Béziers, Toulouse and Barcelona, where he attend the Llotja School.

As a poster artist he became internationally renowned and was the greatest exponent of the Art Nouveau decorative symbolist poster in Catalonia. He introduced ex libris art in Catalonia.  

He worked mostly in Barcelona, where he opened a furniture workshop at the end of the 19th century, and in Terrassa, where he was one of the great promoters of Art Nouveau, along with his friend, painter Joaquim Vancells.

Although he worked as an interior designer for many years, very little of his decorative work remains. He designed furniture, interiors and shops. He worked with furniture maker Francesc Vidal and with the architects Lluís Domènech i Montaner and Camil Oliveras, for whom he did the rooms of Casa Vilaró, in La Rambla, and the panel with the painting of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary which Eusebi Güell had moved from Fonollar Palace to Güell Palace.

The only interior decoration by Riquer that is still fully conserved is the Sala de l’Escriptori (desk room) of the Cercle del Liceu.

Riquer won a gold medal for his furniture at the Chicago World Fair in 1892.