BIOGRAPHY
Antonio Saura is a Spanish painter and writer born in 1930 in Huesca (Spain) and died in 1998 in Cuenca.
Self-taught, he began to paint and write in 1947 in Madrid, when he was stricken with tuberculosis. Antonio Saura creates many drawings and paintings that he himself qualifies as surreal. He most often represents imaginary landscapes for which he uses a flat, smooth and richly colored material. Between 1948 and 1950, he created the Constellations series, in which he was influenced by Miro and surrealism. His first personal exhibition was organized in 1950 in Zaragoza.
Stays in Paris in 1952, 1954 and 1955, made him meet and work with the surrealist group. Disappointed by this experience, he develops an informal, spontaneous and expressive painting. He then uses the scraping technique, adopts a gestural style and abstract painting. Henceforth he took refuge in a more physical style, as explained in an article in Le Monde in 1994, signed Harry Bellet: "When I moved away from surrealism, I gave myself a subject - the female body - as a matrix for constructions black and white paintings. And little by little, other themes came to be associated with it. » . Indeed, from 1956, Saura undertakes large series,Ladies, Nudes, Self-Portraits, Shrouds, Crucifixions, which he paints both on canvas and on paper. He affirms his own style that is independent of the movements and trends of his generation.
Indeed, to free himself from the constraints of the Francoist society, he founded the El Paso group in 1957. The group's manifesto expresses the wish to create a new pictorial style, which advocates the rejection of classical criteria: figuration, composition, balance, beauty. These years saw the development of Spanish Art Informel, of which Antoni Tapies was one of the main members.
In 1959, he illustrated in an original way numerous works such as Don Quixote by Cervantes, 1984 by Orwell, Pinochio in the adaptation by Nöstlinger, Tagebücher by Kafka, Three visions by Quevedo, and many others.
From 1971 to 1979, he abandoned painting on canvas to devote himself to writing, drawing and painting on paper. From 1977, Antonio Saura began publishing his writings, produced several scenographies for theatre, ballet and opera.
Often plagued by illness, he remains a subversive painter, and a personality in the world of the arts.
The Antonio Saura Archives foundation was created in 2006 by the Antonio Saura estate, in Geneva, with the aim of disclosing the work of the artist, of publishing all of his writings as well as the catalogs raisonnés of his graphic works. and painted.
EXPOSURE
2016
- Antonio Saura / from writing to painting, Jan Michalski Foundation for Writing and Literature, Montricher, Switzerland.
2014
- Antonio Saura / Me, me and me, Galerie Patrick Cramer, Geneva.
2013
- Antonio Saura / Die Retrospektive, Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany.
- Antonio Saura, Arbeiten auf Papier und Leinwand / Works on paper and canvas, Galerie Boisserée, Cologne, Germany.
2012
- Antonio Saura / Die Retrospektive, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
- Montages 1956-1996, Galerie Lelong, Paris.
2011
- Lelong Gallery, Paris.
2009
- Slaughterhouse Museum, Toulouse
2005
- Queen Sofia Museum, Madrid
2002
- Strasbourg Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
- Lelong Gallery, Paris
1999
- Antonio Saura / Works on paper, Galerie Lelong, Zürich
1997
- Antonio Saura / Imagina (1956-1997), Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden
1994
- Antonio Saura / Retrospectiva, Museo d'Arte Moderna, Lugano, Switzerland
1990
- Antonio Saura / Gemälde (1956-1985, Retrospektive),Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany
- Antonio Saura / Pinturas (1956-1985, Retrospectiva), Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid – SPAIN
1989
- Saura, Paintings of the sixties, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
- Saura / Pinturas, Retrospectiva 1956-1985, IVAM, Valencia, Spain
- Antonio Saura / La Quinta del Sordo, Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria
1980
- Antonio Saura / Exposición antológica 1948-1980, Fundación Joan Mirò, Barcelona
1979
- Antonio Saura / Retrospective, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
- Antonio Saura / Pictures and Zeichnungen, Galerie Lauter, Mannheim
1966
- Saura, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London