Our post today is a cry for help. Its title is written in Catalan, which translated, means: ‘Research in progress on the illustrator known as Pol‘. Maybe someone —possibly in Barcelona— can help us identify this very fine illustrator from the Art Deco period.

If Divina doesn’t convince you of Pol’s artistic qualities, perhaps Julieta will.

Or can Cléo persuade you?

Our sheet music collection holds all but thirty covers signed with the 3-letter-monogram Pol. Are the three letters the initials of a Spanish/Catalan artist? Or do they simply spell his or her name? A quick survey proves that Pol is not only a popular Catalan first name (like let’s say Paul) but also a common surname.

After unsuccessfully trying to identify the artist for years, thís cover recently gave me a possible clue:

The lyrics of the song Plumita al Viento were written by Pedro Pol, and the cover is illustrated by Pol. Could it be the same person? Looking on the net, I found covers of three other songs written by Pedro Pol. And two of these are illustrated by Pol. So our investigation brought us this far, not without feeling an inkling or presentiment of perhaps beginning to solve the year-long puzzle…

Now, inspecting our Pol sheet music, I stumbled upon another cover which could perhaps offer the key to completely unlock our little mystery:

With this amusing cover (look how well Mercedes Serós is caricatured from the picture insert) our hunch is doubly confirmed, as our illustrator here signed with ‘P. Pol‘. If the P. stands for Pedro, then perhaps our graphical artist has identified himself to be the lyricist Pedro Pol.

From our collection we know that other lyricists doubled as illustrators of sheet music covers. Poet and type designer Georges Auriol springs to mind, but there are others: Jean Tranchant, Nisa and Gene Buck to name but a few.

So our current hypothesis is that Pol is the signature of a gifted person named Pedro Pol, who wrote a few songs and colourfully illustrated many Spanish and Catalan sheet music covers. Possibly, our artist lived and worked in Barcelona during the roaring twenties… Our investigation is stuck, so it is time to put the current state of our research on the net, and call for help:

Ens ajudes a identificar qui va ser el lletrista Pedro Pol, actiu a Barcelona durant els anys vint i potser també il·lustrador de moltes versions de cançons signant el seu bonic treball amb ‘POL‘? Si us plau?

Can you help us to identify who was the lyricist Pedro Pol, active in Barcelona during the twenties and perhaps also the illustrator of many song covers signing his beautiful work with ‘Pol‘? Please?