Saura, Antonio

* 22.09.1930 Huesca - † 1998

biography

Antoni Saura was born on September 22nd, 1930 in Huesca. He is considered the main representative of Spanish Tachism and (after his early surrealist work) pursued the fusion of line or gesture and pictorial space with relentless consistency. His art-critical writings, his cultural commitment, his poetry and his resistance during the Franco era are also well known. During the Spanish Civil War he lived with his family in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. In 1943 he became seriously ill with tuberculosis and, as an autodidact, began to paint and write while he was still recovering. First solo exhibition in 1950. 1953-1955 in Paris, then in Madrid and Cuenca. In 1957 he founded the group El Paso. In 1953 he began to produce large-format, expressive works, a chromatic, nuanced color and light-dark scale from black to white. 1960-1970 works on paper. Winner of the Guggenheim Museum New York and the Carnegie Prize. His studio and parts of his oeuvre were destroyed several times. Although his approach to the pictorial space remained abstract, Saura did not refrain from allowing the human figure to appear evocatively. Saura's extensive portrait cycles, the Retratos imaginarios, the Infantas, the Goya pictures and his Crucifixiónes are famous. His painting has been reflected in a composed manner in his prints since the 1960s. In addition to numerous other awards, he received first prize at the Biennale for Graphic Arts in Heidelberg in 1979. His works are represented in collections and museums worldwide.