Antoni Clavé

ANTONI CLAVÉ I SANMARTÍ (Barcelona, 1913 - Saint Tropez, France, 2005).
"Hommage á Doménikos Theotokópoulos", 1965.
Monotype on paper. E/A copy.
Signed and justified.
Measurements: 65,5 x 50 cm; 78 x 62 cm (frame).
This work was part of the exhibition Hommage à Doménikos Theotokópoulos held in 2015 at the Museo del Greco. The exhibition brought together a total of 26 pieces, composed of a suite of thirteen original lithographs and thirteen other unique works, including drawings and monotypes, conceived as preparatory works for the 1965 edition. The exhibition was organized by the Subdirección General de Promoción de las Bellas Artes de la Secretaría de Estado de Cultura and the Museo del Greco, curated by Offgallery and with the collaboration of Sala Gaspar. The exhibition was part of the section "In the wake of El Greco...", focused on modern artists whose career reveals the influence of El Greco.
Antoni Clavé is among the most outstanding figures of 20th century art, deeply marked by the imprint of El Greco. The admiration he felt for the Cretan master gave rise, during the 1960s, to a series of drawings, engravings and paintings conceived as a tribute to his legacy.
These works show how contemporary artists found in the great masters of the past a constant source of inspiration, establishing a dialogue between tradition and modernity. In Clavé's case, this period is particularly significant, as it represents a moment of transformation in his career, marked by his determined advance towards abstraction. The expressive intensity and the motif of El caballero de la mano en el pecho thus become a recurring reference, whose imprint will be projected in numerous later creations.
Clavé's work can be found, among many others, in the Fine Arts Museum in Bilbao, the Tate Gallery, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the British Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art in Tokyo and the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid.