Francisco Farreras

FRANCISCO FARRERAS RICART (Barcelona, 1927 - Madrid, 2021).
"Ago", 1991.
Mixed media on wood.
Signed, dated and titled on the back.
Measurements: 130 x 165 x 18 cm.
This work reflects Farreras' constant research on the relationship between painting and object, as well as his interest in memory and the trace of time. The result is a sober but intense composition, where the matter not only builds the form, but also the meaning. Farreras developed a work linked to Spanish post-war material abstraction, where the interest is focused on texture, assemblage and tension between elements. Unlike a traditional painting, Ago works almost like a sculptural relief, in which the pieces seem to fit together, press against each other or even hide what is underneath, as suggested by the interlocking shapes at the bottom. In the 1990s, Farreras consolidated his mature style: works that not only show the form, but also the history of the materials, the tension of the compositions and a poetics of assemblage that distinguishes him within the Spanish contemporary art scene.
Francisco Farreras Ricart began at a young age to develop his artistic vocation thanks, at least at first, to Antonio Gómez Cano from Murcia and Mariano Cossío, when he began studying at the School of Arts and Crafts in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He continued his apprenticeship at the San Fernando School in Madrid, where he obtained the title of Professor of Drawing in 1949, and in Paris, Belgium and Holland thanks to his study trips. At the end of the 50's his style is geometric, using thick materials; later, when he discovered silk paper, he developed the possibilities of this material with a large number of collages, especially his work has been seen, since 1954 when he began his professional artistic career, in numerous cities both in Spain and abroad (Madrid, New York, Munich, Logroño, Gijón, Elche, Lisbon, Oporto, Alicante, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Granada, Lahr in Germany, Mallorca, Geneva, California, etc.). It is also preserved in numerous private collections around the world and in institutions such as the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, the Contemporary Art Center of Almada in Portugal, the Honolulu Academy of the Arts in Hawaii, the Chaux de Fonds Museum of Fine Arts in Switzerland, the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid, the Museum of Fine Arts in Bilbao, the Patio Herreriano Museum in Valladolid, the Vienna Museum of the 20th Century in Austria, etc.