40's
After the war ends, Palet comes back to Barcelona and tries to return to the life as an artist, but the world he once knew has now disappeared.
It’s then that he starts a close collaboration with the poet and publisher Josep Janés which will last until the death of Janés in a car crash in 1959.
Working as a book illustrator, Palet finds an outlet for his artistic expression. But through Janés and his social circle, he also discovers a cultural milieu that thrives despite the war, thanks to the enthusiasm and collaboration of many Catalan painters, poets and writers.
Joan Palet regularly collaborates with some editors and writers who ask for his work as a painter, illustrator and portraitist. He works extensively in the field of publishing and designs collections and illustrated covers for Seix Barral, Editorial Aymà, Destino, Lluís Miracle, Editorial Éxito, Editorial Gacela and others. He also works assiduously on many collaborations with his friend Ricart Giralt-Miracle through Filograf.
As a painter, he takes part in various exhibitions of the time such as the National Exhibition of Fine Arts in Barcelona in 1942. Whenever he gets a chance, he goes to paint landscapes, traveling often to Sau with his friend Tarrassó and other colleagues.
Palet strikes a deep friendship with the poet Josep Palau i Fabre. Together they plan to go to Paris in search of a more conducive environment for their creative work. But the trip will be postponed for various reasons. In 1944, Palau i Fabre launches Poesia the first poetry magazine in Catalan after the civil war. Joan Palet works in the design and, is responsible for the mock-up and sketching of the first issue.
In 1948, he travels to Mallorca with painter Casimir Tarrassó and they settle there for four months, following in the footsteps of artists such as Rusiñol and Mir. The peace and tranquility of the island do him good. Shortly after, he journeys to Ibiza, along with painter Mallol Suazo, his wife Dawn and fellow painter and friend Michael Villà. This relationship with the Balearic Islands will last a lifetime and greatly impact his work.
Soon after, he is called to be part of the illustrators of Monumental edition of Don Quixote performed by the National Institute of the Book in Madrid on the occasion of the fourth centenary of Cervantes birth. It is a huge endeavour involving more than seventy artists, some of them Catalans: Opisso Pere Riu, Mallol Suazo, Grau Sala, Alfred Sisquella, Mercè Llimona, Lola Anglada, J. Narro, Junceda and others.
During these years, Palet is involved in various salons of young painters – such as the Saló d'Octubre, the Saló de Puigcerdà. He also wins Drawing Contest of Artistic Circle in numerous occasions (in 1943, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952 and 1954).
Palet is much in demand as a portrait artist and sketches several portraits of the opulent Serra family, Carmen Bravo Mompou's wife, Carolina Leonard the daughter of the poet Lleonart , the music composer Montagut, the poet Josep Palau i Fabre, and Palau’s father and his friend and publisher Josep Janés – among others
