3431 - ANTONIO SAURA

ANTONIO SAURA (Huesca 1930–1998 Cuenca) Ciega. 1958. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated upper right: Saura 58. Signed, titled and dated on the stretcher: SAURA "CIEGA" 1958. 130 × 97.5 cm. Provenance: - With Beniamino Levi Arte Moderna, Milan (verso with label and stamp). - With Galerie van de Loo, Munich (verso with stamp). - Private collection, Switzerland. This work is registered in the archives of the Fondation Antonio Saura and in the catalogue raisonné under no. WCV.DAMT@1958.CIEGA. A certificate can be issued at the buyer’s request and expense. In ‘Ciega’ of 1958, Antonio Saura depicts a human figure in the gestural, expressive visual language characteristic of his work in the late 1950s. The portrait-format canvas is dominated by a dense network of black, grey and light brushstrokes. Broad, forcefully applied passages of paint meet fine, almost drawn lines. The light ground remains visible between them. The figure emerges only fragmentarily from this network. Circular and oval forms suggest a face and body, while overlapping strokes dissolve clear outlines. Figure and background merge. The image moves between figuration and abstraction, a tension characteristic of Saura’s painting. The restriction to black, white and grey lends the painting particular intensity. From 1956, the self-taught artist developed his characteristic black-and-white compositions and the series of ‘Ladies’ and ‘Self-Portraits’. The human figure appears not as a naturalistic likeness but as an archetypal form, which Saura deforms, overlays and reconstitutes through the direct application of paint. The title ‘Ciega’ – ‘Blind woman’ – gives the image an additional meaning. The suggested face remains anonymous and resists clear identification. The figure is simultaneously revealed and concealed from view. This interplay between recognition and non-recognition shapes the effect of the work. The year 1958 marks an important phase in Saura’s artistic development. That year he created his first ‘Imaginary Portraits’ and participated in the Venice Biennale alongside Eduardo Chillida and Antoni Tàpies. The previous year, together with other artists, he had founded the ‘El Paso’ group in Madrid, one of the most influential forces in the renewal of Spanish post-war art.