Joaquín Torres García

JOAQUÍN TORRES GARCÍA (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1874 - 1949).
"Port scene", 1929.
Ink on paper.
Presents on the back label of Royal Marks Gallery (New York).
Measurements: 13.5 x 13 cm; 35 x 34 cm (frame).
This Harbor Scene clearly reflects Torres-García's unmistakable style, characterized by geometric simplification of forms, clear lines and an ordered and structured visual language that combines European modernism with Latin American sensibility. In the work, details such as the anchor and the letters "TABAC" are recognizable, elements that reveal his interest in everyday life and the symbolic structure of objects. It is likely that this port scene, where the author shows an agile and spontaneous stroke, is a preparatory sketch for a more elaborate painting, where the simplified forms and symbols already present could be developed with greater structure and color.
Trained initially in Montevideo and later in Barcelona, Paris and New York, Torres-García was nourished by European movements such as constructivism and modernism, fusing them with South American tradition to develop his own visual language, known as "universal constructivism", where each figure and symbol fulfills a compositional and conceptual function.
His career was intense and cosmopolitan: he participated in international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, shows in Paris, New York and Buenos Aires, and held numerous posthumous retrospectives. His works are present in the most prestigious collections in America and Europe, such as the Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales (Montevideo), the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA), the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid) and the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), consolidating his position as one of the most influential artists of Latin American abstraction and international modern art.