Ismael González de la Serna

ISMAEL GONZÁLEZ DE LA SERNA (Guadix, Granada, 1898 - Paris, 1968).
"Figure" 1929.
Tempera painting on canvas glued on wood.
Signed and dated at the bottom.
Provenance/Collection: Cernuschi Collection, New York, United States of America.
Measurements: 61 × 43.2 cm; 79 x 61.5 cm (frame).

In this work, La Serna combines echoes of cubism, visible in the simplification of the volumes, with an emotional tension close to expressionism. The deformation of the neck, the intensity of the gesture and the chromatic rotundity turn the figure into an image of great psychological charge. The tempera technique on canvas glued to wood reinforces the dryness of the surface and accentuates the direct, essential and powerful character of the painting.

"Figura" belongs to a moment of full creative maturity of Ismael González de la Serna, when the artist, settled in Paris since the beginning of the decade, had assimilated in a personal way the main contributions of the European avant-garde. The work presents a female bust of intense presence, cut out against a dark background that focuses attention on the face, with a marked profile, a shadowed gaze and a half-open mouth.

Ismael González de la Serna trained in Granada and at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid. In 1918 he illustrated Impresiones y paisajes, Federico García Lorca's first book, held his first exhibition in Granada and shortly after showed his work at the Ateneo de Madrid. In 1921 he moved to Paris, where he joined the School of Paris and assimilated, from a personal point of view, influences of cubism and expressionism.

His international projection was consolidated with his solo exhibition at the Paul Guillaume Gallery in Paris in 1927, followed by exhibitions in Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Granada and Mexico. In 1928 he illustrated an edition of Góngora's sonnets for Cahiers d'Art, and in 1932 he inaugurated the activities of the Association of Iberian Artists in Madrid. His work is present in the Reina Sofía Museum, the Patio Herreriano Museum, the Fine Arts Museums of Granada and Seville, ARTIUM, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vilafamés and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.