223 - JOSE MARIA DE LABRA SUAZO (A Coruña, 1925 – Palma de Mallorca, 1994).

JOSE MARIA DE LABRA SUAZO (A Coruña, 1925 – Palma de Mallorca, 1994). "Dancers". Wooden bas-relief. Signed in the lower corner. Dimensions: 32 x 44 x 4 cm; 53 x 65 cm (frame). A painter and sculptor, José María de Labra abandoned his studies in architecture and business to devote himself to painting, soon turning to abstraction through his exploration of space and movement and his use of various materials. After receiving his first recognition in 1942—the First Prize at the SEU Art Exhibition—he enrolled in the School of Fine Arts in Madrid in 1947. In 1953, he began exhibiting his work in A Coruña, and two years later he presented his work in Madrid at the Ateneo. In 1956, he was awarded the Francesco Perotti Prize at the Venice Biennale, thus confirming a successful international career that would lead him to exhibit his work both in Spain and abroad. In fact, in the years that followed, he received awards at the Third Hispano-American Biennial and at the International Festival of Cagnes-sur-Mer. His work is currently included in the Caixanova Collection and the Oteiza Museum, among other public and private collections.