Josep Maria Subirachs

JOSEP MARIA SUBIRACHS SITJAR (Barcelona, 1927-2014).
"Eclipse". 1964.
Ink on paper.
Signed and dated in the lower margin.
Measurements: 35.5 x 68 cm; 57 x 90 cm (frame).

This drawing by Josep Maria Subirachs reflects his cosmovision, in which he engages the symbolic, the cosmic and the earthly in the same visual plane. The astronomical diagram of the eclipse appears almost as a universal script: Earth, Moon and Sun in strict alignment, with the shadow projected on the planet. It is a resource that introduces a cold, precise, scientific language, but at the same time refers to the great mysteries that transcend man: the order of the cosmos, the geometry of the universe. In contrast, the lower part opens up to fragmentary abstraction that evokes ruins or telluric formations. These forms seem torn from the earth, heavy, tangible, and are set against a dark background that intensifies the sensation of density and gravity. The duality is clear: above, the celestial and rational; below, the terrestrial and fragmented.

Trained between Barcelona and Paris, Subirachs has exhibited his work all over the world, and has won outstanding awards such as the Sculpture Prize of the Salón del Jazz, the San Jorge Grand Prize of the Diputación de Barcelona and the "Julio González" of the Cámara Barcelonesa de Arte. In 1988 he was awarded the Medal of Merit in Fine Arts. In 1980 he was elected member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Jorge. He is represented at the Centro Reina Sofía, the Contemporary Art Museums of Barcelona, Ibiza, Seville and New York, the Fine Arts Museums of Bilbao, Birmingham, the Vatican, Taipei and Nebraska, the Museo al Aire Libre del Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, the Petit Palais Museum in Geneva and the Millesgärden in Stockholm, among others.