José Guerrero

JOSÉ GUERRERO (Granada, 1914–Barcelona, 1991).
“Untitled,” 1981.
Gouache on a lithographic poster created for José Guerrero’s exhibition at the Fundació Joan Miró, Parc de Montjuïc, Barcelona.
Signed, dated, and inscribed in the lower left corner: “To Ramón and Fernando Calderón. Madrid, February 27, 1981.”
Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by the José Guerrero Center and scheduled for inclusion in the third edition of the artist’s catalog raisonné.
Measurements: 67 × 96 cm; 87 × 113 cm (frame).

A unique work from José Guerrero’s mature period, directly linked to his exhibition at the Fundació Joan Miró. The intervention with gouache transforms the original lithographic poster into a one-of-a-kind piece, virtually nullifying its informative function to turn it into the medium for a fully pictorial composition.

A large mass of dark blue occupies the center of the image and expands until it meets the vertical blue and pink bands at the edges. In the lower section, the white areas and the intense reddish accent introduce a luminous opening that balances the density of the central field. The visible brushstrokes, chromatic overlays, and irregularities in the outline preserve the immediacy of the creative process.

The work dates to a period when Guerrero’s experience with the New York School had crystallized into a fully personal language, based on the tension between color, material, boundary, and void. Its status as an original intervention on an exhibition poster, the personal dedication, the certificate from the José Guerrero Center, and its future inclusion in the catalogue raisonné reinforce its documentary and artistic significance.

José Guerrero was a key figure in Spanish abstraction and one of the Spanish artists most closely linked to American Abstract Expressionism. After settling in New York, he developed a distinctive style characterized by large chromatic fields and marked gestural intensity. His work is held in the Reina Sofía Museum and at the José Guerrero Center in Granada, an institution dedicated to the study and dissemination of his legacy.