Antoni Clavé was born in Barcelona on 5 April 1913. From 1926 he attended evening courses at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios "Llotja" taught by Félix Mestres, Josep Mongrell and Angel Ferrant. Mongrell found Clavé a place as a house painter's apprentice in 1927 because Clavé was fascinated by the hands-on side of painting and especially by the materials used for such work and wanted to learn how to prepare paints.

In 1932 Clavé stopped attending the evening classes and, on the recommendation of Illescas, an architect, was employed at the firm of Cinaes, where he designed the weekly cinema posters. On the side Clavé also worked for a children's magazine and designed advertising posters.

During the Spanish Civil War Clavé serve...