154 - ANTONIO SANTOS (Lupiñén, Huesca, 1955).

ANTONIO SANTOS (Lupiñén, Huesca, 1955). Untitled. Carved black marble. Signed on the base. In good condition, with slight surface scuffs. Measurements: 34.5 x 21 x 14 cm. Provenance: Estate of Ramon Martí Alsina and Ricard Martí Aguiló. Artistic and heritage collection originating in the legacy of Catalan painters Ramon Martí Alsina (1826–1894), a seminal figure of 19th-century Catalan Realism, and his son Ricard Martí Aguiló (1857–1935). Passed down and enriched across successive generations, the collection brings together works from the original holdings of both artists alongside acquisitions made by their descendants. Dedicated to preserving and recovering the family legacy, the descendants actively reacquired works by the painters as they entered the market, progressively expanding the collection to encompass paintings, sculptures, archaeological artifacts, and other items of artistic and historical significance. This sculpture is particularly representative of Antonio Santos’s sculptural style, which focuses on direct carving and a deliberately synthetic figurative approach. The work also possesses an intriguing two-faced quality: each of its faces presents a distinct interpretation of the human face, constructed through geometric planes, almond-shaped eyes, sharply defined noses, and surfaces that alternate between polished and bush-hammered finishes. The rounded form is a hallmark of the deep incisions of the features, while the polished stone intensifies the play of light on the dark surface. Santos has frequently worked with stone sculpture and, in particular, black Calatorao marble, a material with which he has created numerous figures with a strong totemic presence and an archaic appearance. Antonio Santos is a sculptor, painter, printmaker, and illustrator. He studied Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona, specializing in sculpture, and has been exhibiting his work regularly since 1976. His career combines visual art with illustration, a field in which he received the Second National Illustration Prize in 2004; he has presented institutional exhibitions such as *The Art of Play* at the Quintanar Palace in Segovia and *The Craft of Illustration* at the University of Zaragoza.