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Lot Essay
IN FEBRUARY 1956, AS A DIRECT RESPONSE TO THE REPRESSION AND IMPRISONMENT OF MANY OF HIS INTELLECTUAL FRIENDS BY THE SPANISH POLICE FORCE, SAURA PAINTED HIS FIRST BLACK AND WHITE PAINTING. THIS DRAMATIC SHIFT IN THE STYLISTIC DIRECTION OF HIS ART ALONG WITH THE PORTRAYAL OF THE FEMALE FACE BECAME A CONSTANT FEATURE OF HIS WORK THROUGHOUT THE REST OF HIS CAREER. IN ADDITION, THE REDUCTION OF COLOUR TO JUST BLACK AND WHITE ALLOWED SAURA TO COMMIT TO A BOLDER AND FREER APPROACH WHEREBY THE ACTION AND GESTURE OF HIS BRUSHSTROKES ARE MORE CLEARLY DELINEATED.
IN THIS UNTITLED WORK, SAURA FIRST LET HIS PAINT DRIP DOWN THE CANVAS BEFORE WORKING A CONGLOMERATION OF CONTRASTING BRUSHSTROKES FROM A VARIETY OF ANGLES AROUND THE IMAGE OF A FEMALE FIGURE. THE USE OF THE FEMALE FORM WAS FOR SAURA MERELY A STARTING POINT, OR A MEANS BY WHICH HE COULD PROCEED TO CREATE A CONSTANTLY RENEWABLE VISION. "IT IS A QUESTION OF ACTIVATING AN OBSESSIVE ANCESTRAL IMAGE WITHOUT THIS IMPLYING A REGRESSION TO CLASSICAL STRUCTURES," HE HAS SAID. "THIS IS ACHIEVED BY USING A SUPPORTING DEVICE WHICH IS BOTH EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL AND DOES NOT DEPEND ON AN INTELLECTUAL PROCESS OF SYNTHESIS, TRANSPOSITION OR ABSTRACTION. IT IS IN THE COURSE OF ACTION THAT NEW AND EXTENDIBLE CONFIGURATIONS ARE ESTABLISHED, APPEARING AFTER THE EVENT, ALWAYS PRESENT, THE DISORDERLY FRAMEWORK OF THE UNDERLYING ARCHETYPE. ONE GESTURE CALLS FOR OTHERS AND THE RAW CONSTRUCTION, MIRACLE OR DISASTER, RISES AND FLOWS LIKE AN ETERNAL RIVER FROM THE VERTIGINOUS ACCUMULATION GOVERNED BY A MATHEMATICAL-BIOLOGICAL LOGIC." (SAURA CITED IN: EX. CAT., MUSEO D'ARTE MODERNA, ANTONIO SAURA, LUGANO 1994, P. 129).
IN THIS UNTITLED WORK, SAURA FIRST LET HIS PAINT DRIP DOWN THE CANVAS BEFORE WORKING A CONGLOMERATION OF CONTRASTING BRUSHSTROKES FROM A VARIETY OF ANGLES AROUND THE IMAGE OF A FEMALE FIGURE. THE USE OF THE FEMALE FORM WAS FOR SAURA MERELY A STARTING POINT, OR A MEANS BY WHICH HE COULD PROCEED TO CREATE A CONSTANTLY RENEWABLE VISION. "IT IS A QUESTION OF ACTIVATING AN OBSESSIVE ANCESTRAL IMAGE WITHOUT THIS IMPLYING A REGRESSION TO CLASSICAL STRUCTURES," HE HAS SAID. "THIS IS ACHIEVED BY USING A SUPPORTING DEVICE WHICH IS BOTH EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL AND DOES NOT DEPEND ON AN INTELLECTUAL PROCESS OF SYNTHESIS, TRANSPOSITION OR ABSTRACTION. IT IS IN THE COURSE OF ACTION THAT NEW AND EXTENDIBLE CONFIGURATIONS ARE ESTABLISHED, APPEARING AFTER THE EVENT, ALWAYS PRESENT, THE DISORDERLY FRAMEWORK OF THE UNDERLYING ARCHETYPE. ONE GESTURE CALLS FOR OTHERS AND THE RAW CONSTRUCTION, MIRACLE OR DISASTER, RISES AND FLOWS LIKE AN ETERNAL RIVER FROM THE VERTIGINOUS ACCUMULATION GOVERNED BY A MATHEMATICAL-BIOLOGICAL LOGIC." (SAURA CITED IN: EX. CAT., MUSEO D'ARTE MODERNA, ANTONIO SAURA, LUGANO 1994, P. 129).