Raimon Casellas

{{Short description|Catalan author (1855–1910)}}

{{Infobox person

| name =

| image =(Barcelona) Portrait of the Art Critic and Writer Raimon Casellas by Lluís Graner - MNAC.jpg

| alt = Portrait of Raimon Casellas by Lluís Graner

| caption = Portrait of Raimon Casellas by Lluís Graner

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1855|01|07}}

| birth_place = Barcelona

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1910|11|02|1855|01|07}}

| death_place = Sant Joan de les Abadesses

| nationality =

| other_names =

| occupation = writer

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works = Dark Vales (Els sots feréstecs)

}}

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.{{Cite web|title=Presentation of the English version of "Els sots feréstecs", by Raimon Casellas {{!}} Barcelona Cultura |url=https://www.barcelona.cat/barcelonacultura/en/recomanem/presentation-english-version-els-sots-ferestecs-raimon-casellas|access-date=2022-01-03|website=www.barcelona.cat}}

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.{{Cite web|last=Josep|first=Miàs|title=Raimon Casellas|url=https://www.escriptors.cat/autors/casellasr/english|access-date=2022-01-03|website=Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana|language=ca}}

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.

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.{{Cite web|title=La col·lecció Raimon Casellas {{!}} Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya|url=https://www.museunacional.cat/en/la-colleccio-raimon-casellas|access-date=2022-01-03|website=www.museunacional.cat|date=11 December 2013 }}