Francisco Borés

FRANCISCO BORÉS (Madrid, 1898 - Paris, 1972).
"Personnages à l'aube", 1938
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated.
Published in the artist's catalog raisonné.
With label on the back of the Sala Parés (Barcelona).
Measurements: 130 x 89 cm; 156 x 115 cm (with frame).

In "Personnages à l'aube", Borés constructs a scene of great formal complexity and poetic depth, where figures and objects emerge in a fragmented space, halfway between the real and the evoked. The composition, articulated by means of superimposed planes and geometric rhythms, evidences a mature assimilation of synthetic cubism, reinterpreted from a language of a markedly lyrical sensibility.

The figures, barely defined, are integrated in a dense and crepuscular environment, where the light -contained and precise- organizes the scene through hallmarks and chromatic accents. Elements such as the bottle, the table or the cards act as symbolic references within a suspended image, charged with an intimate and enigmatic atmosphere.

Executed in 1938, the work belongs to one of the most solid moments of Borés' career, already fully settled in Paris and integrated into the avant-garde environment. In this period he achieved a particularly balanced synthesis between formal construction and emotional resonance, moving away from cubist orthodoxy to assert a personal and fully modern language.

Published in the artist's catalog raisonné, this painting combines quality, chronology and relevance within his production. The presence of the Sala Parés label, a key gallery in the diffusion of modern art in Spain, also adds a particularly significant historical value and provenance.

Francisco Borés trained in Madrid before settling in Paris in 1925, where he developed an outstanding international career in contact with Picasso and Juan Gris. He exhibited individually from 1927 and participated in important exhibitions in Europe and the United States, including the MoMA in New York as early as 1930, as well as galleries such as Georges Petit (Paris) and Zwemmer (London). His institutional recognition was consolidated with the acquisition of his work by the French State (1947) and MoMA (1949).

His work is today preserved in major public collections such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, the MoMA in New York and various museums of modern art in Europe and America.