Antonio Saura

Antonio Saura - Mathias Grünewald

Technique: Color Lithography

Artist Biography: He was born in Huesca in 1930 and died in Cuenca in 1998. He began to paint and write in Madrid in 1947, while recovering from tuberculosis that kept him immobilized for five years. First searches and first pictorial experiences. He claims the influence of Arp and Tanguy, but is already distinguished by a personal style; he creates numerous drawings and paintings of oneiric and surrealistic character in which he generally represents imaginary landscapes that he captures in a flat, smooth and rich in color matter. First stay in Paris in 1952. Second period in Paris between 1954 and 1955 during which he meets Benjamin Péret and frequents the group of surrealists, from whom he soon distances himself and his friend the painter Simon Hantaï. He then uses the technique of grattage, adopts a gestural style and a radically abstract, colorful, organic and random painting. He begins to paint by occupying the space of the canvas in various and very diverse ways, creating his own formal structures that he will not cease to develop. First appearances of forms that will soon become archetypes of the woman's body or the human figure, two fundamental themes that will occupy the essence of his work. In 1956 Saura began his great series, Ladies, Nudes, Self-Portraits, Shrouds, Crucifixions, which he painted both on canvas and on paper. In 1957 he founds the group El Paso in Madrid, which he will lead until its dissolution in 1960. He meets Michel Tapié. First solo exhibition at Rodolphe Stadler's gallery in Paris, where he will exhibit constantly throughout his life. Stadler introduces him to Otto van de Loo in Munich and Pierre Matisse in New York, who will also exhibit his work and represent him. He then limits his palette to blacks, grays and browns. He asserts his own style, independent of the movements and trends of his generation. His work is inscribed in the line of Velázquez and Goya. He enters the main museums. From 1959 he dedicates himself to a prolific graphic work. He illustrates in an original way numerous books such as Don Quixote by Cervantes, 1984 by Orwell, Pinocchio in Nöstlinger's adaptation, Tagebücher by Kafka, Tres visiones by Quevedo, and many others. In 1960 he began sculpting and made works composed of welded metal elements representing the human figure, characters and crucifixions. In 1967 he settled permanently in Paris; he became involved in the opposition to Franco's dictatorship and participated in numerous debates and controversies in the fields of politics, aesthetics and artistic creation. He broadens his thematic and pictorial register. Along with the series Mujer-sillón (Woman-Adjournment) appear the series Retratos imaginarios (Imaginary Portraits), El perro de Goya (Goya's Dog) and Retrato imaginario de Goya (Imaginary Portrait of Goya). In 1971 he abandoned painting on canvas, which he resumed in 1979, to devote himself to writing, drawing and painting on paper. In 1977 he began to publish his writings and produced several stage designs for the theater, as well as for ballet and opera. In 1983 she created an important series of portraits entitled Dora Maar or Dora Maar visited. From that date until his untimely death, he masterfully retakes and develops the set of his themes and figures to produce, perhaps, the best of his work. The works shown at ARCO 2020 are part of the series "Foto-Graphy", currently on display at La Caja Negra. The exhibition presents a group of unpublished works by Antonio Saura made in the early 60's. These works were recorded by the artist in his logbook under the title Foto-Grafía and were ready for a production that was never realized. It is a series of superimpositions on intervened photographs that show a great innovative and experimental capacity within his career.