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Spanish sculptor, metalworker, painter and draughtsman, the chief pioneer of welded iron sculpture. Born in Barcelona, he was trained in metalwork by his father, a goldsmith, but began his career as a painter. He moved to Paris in 1900 where he met Picasso, Brancusi and Despiau. In 1910 he supported himself mainly by making metalwork and jewellery, but also exhibited paintings and sculpture (modelled pieces and "repoussé" masks). First one-man exhibition in Paris, 1921. In 1918 he learned a new technique of welding and produced his first iron sculpture in 1927. From 1928-32 he worked for Picasso, executing welded sculptures from his designs. This experience encouraged Gonzalez to devote himself exclusively to sculpture. He developed a linear and spatial form of welded sculpture and exhibited in the 1930s with abstract artists and the Surrealists. He made very little sculpture after early 1939, partly because of the disruption and shortage of materials caused by the war. His works include many drawings. He died in Paris.

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