Lot Essay
Xul Solar's imagery and style fully developed while the artist was still living in Europe between the years 1918 and 1923. During this period the artist was constantly exposed to the work of European Expressionists, Futurists, Cubists and other non-figurative painters such as the Russian vanguards. The dialogue and exposure that he held, along with his most unique sensibility and intelligence, embarked him upon a search for his own means of artistic expression and into a unique world that would embrace literature, metaphysics and science.
Formally, his small format watercolors and temperas became much more geometric in shape and less esoteric and symbolist in content. Following the teachings of his contemporaries, Xul depicted his innermost visions as a self-referential exercise employing a visual vocabulary of text, bright flat color forms and imaginary characters. Xul would mount these compositions on colored paper further exploring the meanings of color. All of the above mentioned elements were employed by the artist as referential signs or 'visual poems' that delved into his own unconscious.
The small format watercolors the artist used also allowed him to critique the stereotype of the artist and his milieu. A rebel at heart, Xul always questioned truth and reality, trying to liberate it from surrounding social constraints. His art also conveys the mysticism, visions and anxieties of his own reality as well as his quest for change. A quest, we might add, that he never relented. Upon Xul's return to Argentina, he became one of the most influential and original thinkers of the avant-garde.
This watercolor is sold with a photo certificate of authenticity signed by Natalio Jorge Povarche
Formally, his small format watercolors and temperas became much more geometric in shape and less esoteric and symbolist in content. Following the teachings of his contemporaries, Xul depicted his innermost visions as a self-referential exercise employing a visual vocabulary of text, bright flat color forms and imaginary characters. Xul would mount these compositions on colored paper further exploring the meanings of color. All of the above mentioned elements were employed by the artist as referential signs or 'visual poems' that delved into his own unconscious.
The small format watercolors the artist used also allowed him to critique the stereotype of the artist and his milieu. A rebel at heart, Xul always questioned truth and reality, trying to liberate it from surrounding social constraints. His art also conveys the mysticism, visions and anxieties of his own reality as well as his quest for change. A quest, we might add, that he never relented. Upon Xul's return to Argentina, he became one of the most influential and original thinkers of the avant-garde.
This watercolor is sold with a photo certificate of authenticity signed by Natalio Jorge Povarche