Urbano Lugris

URBANO LUGRÍS GONZÁLEZ (La Coruña, 1908-1973).
"In the light of the moon", 1965.
Ink on paper.
With poem by the artist.
Size: 44 x 33 cm; 64 x 53 cm (frame).

In "A la luz de la luna", Lugrís combines his double facet of painter and poet in a work of delicate stroke and dreamlike atmosphere. The drawing, done in ink, shows a symbolic universe populated by female figures and geometric structures, presided over by a large lunar circle that acts as a visual and metaphorical axis. The inclusion of a handwritten poem reinforces the lyrical and personal character of the piece, in which the artist fuses word and image to express his particular vision of the world: a territory where reverie, memory and the sea converge under the melancholic light of the moon.

Urbano Lugrís, an essential figure of 20th century Galician art, was a painter, illustrator and set designer. Linked in his youth to the Pedagogical Missions and to the circle of Federico García Lorca and Rafael Alberti, he developed a deeply imaginative and symbolic work, influenced by Italian metaphysical painting and European surrealism. Throughout his career he cultivated an unmistakable style of visionary character, where the precision of the drawing coexists with the poetic atmosphere and marine lyricism.

His legacy has been the subject of important retrospective exhibitions, among them the great exhibition organized by Rosario Sarmiento and Antón Patiño at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid and the Auditorio de Galicia (1997). Considered one of the great creators of the Galician plastic imaginary, Lugrís occupies a prominent place in the history of Spanish art as a cult artist, whose work unites literature, symbolism and painting with a unique sensitivity.