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Lot Essay
A late version on the theme of the Montserrat, this mask of the Montserrat screaming in terror is one of the most powerfully expressive sculptures in Gonzlez's entire oeuvre.
Originally executed in the repouss technique of pounding out a volumetric shape from a single sheet of iron that Gonzlez had learned as part of the ironmonger's craft in Barcelona, this striking mask, with its hollowed out mouth and eyes, powerfully juxtaposes brittle materiality with empty space in a way that both compliments and expands the sense of spiritual despair conveyed by the tortured expression of the peasant woman's face.
In order to create the unique and dramatic forms and texture of this work, Gonzlez burned into the original iron mask with the pointed flame of his welding torch partially melting and corroding away the features of the face until the striking char-grilled texture of the surface was in accordance with the power of its subject. Looking as if it has been forged in the volcanic fires of Vesuvius and recently excavated from Pompeii, the sculpture seems as if it were the physical mould of a terrifying scream, such as the pregnant silence of the space that surrounds it.
Originally executed in the repouss technique of pounding out a volumetric shape from a single sheet of iron that Gonzlez had learned as part of the ironmonger's craft in Barcelona, this striking mask, with its hollowed out mouth and eyes, powerfully juxtaposes brittle materiality with empty space in a way that both compliments and expands the sense of spiritual despair conveyed by the tortured expression of the peasant woman's face.
In order to create the unique and dramatic forms and texture of this work, Gonzlez burned into the original iron mask with the pointed flame of his welding torch partially melting and corroding away the features of the face until the striking char-grilled texture of the surface was in accordance with the power of its subject. Looking as if it has been forged in the volcanic fires of Vesuvius and recently excavated from Pompeii, the sculpture seems as if it were the physical mould of a terrifying scream, such as the pregnant silence of the space that surrounds it.