Lot Essay
Tériade (1897-1983), the notorious Parisian critic and publisher, most likely purchased this painting directly from Torres-García at the Salons des Surindépendents or at an avant-garde gallery like Jeanne Bucher or Galerie Pierre. Tériade's real name was Efstratios Eleftheriades, and when he arrived in France at age 18 to study law, he was a young Greek obsessed by the lost Classical ideal. (1) By 1926, he was writing for Cahiers d'Art, and later founded and collaborated on several of the most transcendental magazines of modern art in Paris: L'Intransigeant, Verve and La Bete Noire. He published numerous journals of art and poetry like Minotaure, and produced beautiful books on Chagall, Picasso, Miró and Matisse among others.
From 1928 on, he followed the work of Torres-García, always mentioning him in his reviews of both individual and group exhibitions. These articles were recently reprinted (2) and are fascinating in their revelation of the tensions and factions that embroiled the Parisian art world at that crucial time. In 1931, the year this oil was painted, Tériade wrote for l'Intransigeant about a group exhibition in which Torres-García participated, curiously he associates Torres with Campigli and Cherchoune as following a "Constructivist tendency in compartments". But what is most interesting, is that he relates Torres' painting to the "décor des vases péruviennes" (3).
Indeed, during the previous year, Torres-García's older son Augusto made drawings of the Nazca ceramic collection for the Musée de l'Homme's inventory. Torres-García often visited Augusto at the Musée and was able to handle and study the precious ceramics. In Constructivo en colores, not only does the palette of earth red, patinated whites, grays and ochre evoke the ancient art of his native South America, but the very structure is interrupted and fused with decorative elements, like the seesaw line and scalloped edges, characteristic of Nazca art. The organization of the painting's surface is unique and illuminates the specific character and soul that each work has.
What is fascinating is how a work like this foretold the direction that Torres-García would take in his life, which was so closely linked to his art, away from Europe, far away from the world's artistic centers, to his birthplace. Three years later, he arrived in Montevideo with the agenda to create a new art movement for the Americas. This daring act of faith was to cost him dearly, for his departure from the "scene" obscured Torres-García's reputation and the rightful recognition that his work deserves in the history of modern art.
Cecilia de Torres
New York, Oct. 1997
(1) M. Anthonioz, Hommage à Tériade, Centre Nacional d'Art Contemporain, Paris, 1973
(2) A. Biro, Ecrits sur Art, Paris, 1996
(3) ibid, p. 366
This painting is sold in its original stretcher and frame.
It will be listed under N.P. 1931-38 in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist being prepared by Cecilia de Torres
From 1928 on, he followed the work of Torres-García, always mentioning him in his reviews of both individual and group exhibitions. These articles were recently reprinted (2) and are fascinating in their revelation of the tensions and factions that embroiled the Parisian art world at that crucial time. In 1931, the year this oil was painted, Tériade wrote for l'Intransigeant about a group exhibition in which Torres-García participated, curiously he associates Torres with Campigli and Cherchoune as following a "Constructivist tendency in compartments". But what is most interesting, is that he relates Torres' painting to the "décor des vases péruviennes" (3).
Indeed, during the previous year, Torres-García's older son Augusto made drawings of the Nazca ceramic collection for the Musée de l'Homme's inventory. Torres-García often visited Augusto at the Musée and was able to handle and study the precious ceramics. In Constructivo en colores, not only does the palette of earth red, patinated whites, grays and ochre evoke the ancient art of his native South America, but the very structure is interrupted and fused with decorative elements, like the seesaw line and scalloped edges, characteristic of Nazca art. The organization of the painting's surface is unique and illuminates the specific character and soul that each work has.
What is fascinating is how a work like this foretold the direction that Torres-García would take in his life, which was so closely linked to his art, away from Europe, far away from the world's artistic centers, to his birthplace. Three years later, he arrived in Montevideo with the agenda to create a new art movement for the Americas. This daring act of faith was to cost him dearly, for his departure from the "scene" obscured Torres-García's reputation and the rightful recognition that his work deserves in the history of modern art.
Cecilia de Torres
New York, Oct. 1997
(1) M. Anthonioz, Hommage à Tériade, Centre Nacional d'Art Contemporain, Paris, 1973
(2) A. Biro, Ecrits sur Art, Paris, 1996
(3) ibid, p. 366
This painting is sold in its original stretcher and frame.
It will be listed under N.P. 1931-38 in the forthcoming catalogue raisonné of the artist being prepared by Cecilia de Torres