Artworks
Sem título [Untitled]
other
Date
1964
Technique
Vieux-chêne on cork laid on paper
Dimensions
49,9 x 37,5 cm
With his first exhibitions in 1958, while still attending the Lisbon Superior School of Fine Arts, Espiga Pinto (1940-2014) explored several areas such as painting, drawing, sculpture, engraving, performance, staging, tile making and medal work.
His initial production from the 1950's and 1960's - where this work is included - was predominantly marked by an imagery related to his native Alentejo, to where he returned between 1960 and 1966 after his Lisbon training. Figures from this rural universe occupied his imagination then, whether in his working time or in his festive and ritualistic moments. The animals in that landscape, such as horses, oxen, bulls and sheep are a strong presence in his work.
Later, this affective proximity to neo-realism encountered a tendency for abstraction. It is then noted a growing importance of geometry in defining the structure of his works, aspiring for a symbolic representation of broader cosmogonies.
In this work from 1964, made with a single shade, although we can guess the paws of an animal in the lower part of the composition, the tendency for abstraction is already present. The colour spots predominantly occupy the superior two thirds of the composition, and are extended to the lower right corner, allowing the lower left corner to breath in the void. The bottom, in sections and with texture, acquires relevance, together with the continuous and monochromatic shape applied by Espiga Pinto. The signature and dating of this work, inscribed in painting on the lower part, acquire a character of visual sign, integrating the composition's movement and, simultaneously, detaching from it.
LC
His initial production from the 1950's and 1960's - where this work is included - was predominantly marked by an imagery related to his native Alentejo, to where he returned between 1960 and 1966 after his Lisbon training. Figures from this rural universe occupied his imagination then, whether in his working time or in his festive and ritualistic moments. The animals in that landscape, such as horses, oxen, bulls and sheep are a strong presence in his work.
Later, this affective proximity to neo-realism encountered a tendency for abstraction. It is then noted a growing importance of geometry in defining the structure of his works, aspiring for a symbolic representation of broader cosmogonies.
In this work from 1964, made with a single shade, although we can guess the paws of an animal in the lower part of the composition, the tendency for abstraction is already present. The colour spots predominantly occupy the superior two thirds of the composition, and are extended to the lower right corner, allowing the lower left corner to breath in the void. The bottom, in sections and with texture, acquires relevance, together with the continuous and monochromatic shape applied by Espiga Pinto. The signature and dating of this work, inscribed in painting on the lower part, acquire a character of visual sign, integrating the composition's movement and, simultaneously, detaching from it.
LC
