Eduard Alcoy

EDUARD ALCOY (Barcelona, 1930 – Mataró, 1987).
“Homage to Solana.”
Series of ten watercolors on 240 g/m² Canson paper.
Signed individually.
Measurements: 21 x 30 cm each.

The series constitutes a unique tribute by Eduard Alcoy to José Gutiérrez Solana, an artist with whom he shares an interest in the grotesque, death, and a disturbing vision of the human figure. The serial nature of the work also allows us to appreciate a recurring motif in his oeuvre: the continuous transformation of a single image. The skulls disintegrate, become geometric, or extend into hair, architectural forms, and hybrid shapes, constructing an imaginary world in which the macabre coexists with irony and fantasy.In contrast to Solana’s somber density, Alcoy introduces a greater spatial lightness and an imagination rooted in Surrealism, transforming the homage into a wholly personal reinterpretation.

The ten compositions explore variations on a single motif, transforming the human face into a skull, a mask, or a fantastical creature. Through washes, incisive lines, and subtle accents of blue, ochre, and black, Alcoy combines organic forms with geometric structures and large areas of blank paper. The grainy surface of the paper enhances the broken effects of the pigment and the transparencies characteristic of watercolor.

Eduard Alcoy was one of the most distinctive figures in postwar Catalan figurative art. A founding member of the Grup Sílex, he evolved from geometric abstraction and Informalism toward a fantastical and deeply personal form of figuration. His career was the subject of a major retrospective at the Museu Municipal de Mataró in 1980 and of the exhibition *Eduard Alcoy. Art i Encanteri (1950–1987)* at Ca l’Arenas in 2017–2018. His work is represented in the collections of the Fundació Vila Casas, the Museu de Mataró, the Víctor Balaguer Museum and Library, and the University of Barcelona, among others.