Ismael Gonzáles de la Serna

ISMAEL GONZÁLEZ DE LA SERNA (Guadix, Granada, 1898 - Paris, 1968).
Untitled.
Ink on paper.
Damaged in the frame.
Signed with the artist's seal.
Measurements: 27 x 20 cm; 48 x 41 cm (frame).

Ismael González de la Serna began his artistic training in Granada and completed it at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid. His first pictorial language combined impressionist, symbolist and modernist influences, as can be seen in the illustrations he made for the book Impresiones y paisajes (1918) by his friend Federico García Lorca. That same year he held his first exhibition in Granada and shortly after at the Ateneo de Madrid. In 1921 he moved to Paris, joining the circles of the School of Paris and becoming friends with Pablo Picasso, who had a decisive influence on his work.

During the twenties, his painting was permeated by cubism and expressionism, developing a personal style characterized by sinuous lines, chromatic hallmarks and a marked spatial sense, applied mainly in still lifes, portraits and landscapes. His international recognition was consolidated with exhibitions in galleries such as Paul Guillaume in Paris and commissions such as the illustration of twenty sonnets by Góngora for Cahiers d'Art (1928). After World War II, his work evolved towards more schematic solutions and closer to contemporary abstraction.

Ismael de la Serna is represented in important national and international museums, including the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, the Fine Arts Museums of Granada and Seville, the Patio Herreriano Museum in Valladolid, the ARTIUM in Vitoria and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.