Alexandre de Riquer was known as the Prince of Modernism. He was born in Calaf, La Segerra, Catalan (Catalonia) in Spain; his father was a Marquis.
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Alexandre studied in the Jesuit School of Manresa; unfortunately, his father was exiled to France after the Carlist wars, and Alexander moved with him, studying at the School of the Immaculate COnception in Béziers, in Provençe.
Alexandre later returned to Spain and went to the Llotja School of Fine Arts. He traveled to cities Italy and to Paris to study the art there, and did ilustration work for “Arts and Letters.”
A chance meeting in 1884 in London with William Morris and with the Pre-Raphaelites inspired him to switch to producing more abstract, stylized designs. He later was known for producing a great many bookplates (Ex-libris, showing who owned a book, pasted usually inside the cover or on the fly-leaf).
Alexandre de Riquer was an important member of the Catalan Art Nouveau. He also designed jewellery and furniture.
He died in Ciutat de Mallorca on November 18, 1920.
