Who was Marga Gil?

Marga Gil was a sculptor, illustrator and poet born in Spain. she was admired by intellectuals of her time being considered as a very skilful sculptor with a unique style. Her illustrations inspired Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the French writer and illustrator, for his work of The Little Prince, who knew Gil’s works in his visits to Spain.

Gil died at a very young age, so her multifaceted work is scarce, although of great value. Critics and art historians considered her artistic career impressive for the change of the genre (paper, watercolour, wood, plaster and granite) and of style too (from modernism to avant-garde) in a very short time. In little more than ten years, less than half of her short life, she demonstrated her expertise as an illustrator by using Chinese ink and watercolour in paper. She also mastered the technique of casting in plaster and bronze to achieve a surprising mastery in wood carving, applying, at the end of his life, hammer and chisel to the stone and granite.

Curiously, she belonged to a family of women artists: her sister was the writer Consuelo Gil Roësset, her aunt was the painter María Roësset Mosquera, her cousin was the painter María Roësset Velasco and her niece was the poet and photographer Margarita Clark.

Her lack of confidence, youth and her impossible love for Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez made her so unhappy that she decided to commit suicide in 1932. The last note on her diary said:

«… Y es que… Ya no quiero vivir sin ti… no… ya no puedo vivir sin ti… tú, como sí puedes vivir sin mí… debes vivir sin mí…», «Mi amor es ¡infinito…… La muerte es… infinita… el mar… es infinito… la soledad infinita… … … yo con ellos… ¡contigo!… Mañana tú ya sabes… yo… con lo infinito… lunes, noche», «Pero en la muerte, ya nada me separa de ti… solo la muerte… … solo la muerte, sola… y, es ya… vida ¡tanto más cerca así… … muerte… cómo te quiero».

Here it is my translation to English:

«… And it is that … I no longer want to live without you … no … I can no longer live without you … you, as you can live without me … you must live without me … »,« My love is infinite …… Death is … infinite … the sea … is infinite … infinite loneliness … … … me with them. .. with you! … Tomorrow you already know … I … with the infinite … Monday, night »,« But in death, nothing separates me from you … only death .. … only death, alone … and, it’s already … life so much closer like this … … death … how I love you. ».