Modest Cuixart

MODEST CUIXART (Barcelona, 1925 – Palafrugell, Girona, 2007)
Untitled, 1962.
Oil and mixed media on canvas.
Signed and dated on the reverse.
Measurements: 56 x 47 cm; 78 x 67 cm with frame.

This work belongs to Modest Cuixart’s Informalist and materialist period, during which the artist explored the pictorial surface as a space of physical density, relief, and mystery. Against a dark, almost black background, incised forms and circular elements in relief emerge, barely perceptible beneath the vibration of the material.

The composition is built using a restrained color palette, dominated by blacks, earth tones, and metallic reflections, which accentuate its nocturnal and enigmatic character. The organic marks and forms seem to emerge from within the painting itself, creating an image reminiscent of an archaeological object or matter in transformation.

The work reflects one of Cuixart’s central concerns during these years: transcending painting as a mere image to transform it into a material presence. His interest lies precisely in that tension between surface and depth, between gesture and relief, between darkness and revelation.

Modest Cuixart was a key figure in the postwar Catalan avant-garde. In 1948, together with Joan Brossa, Antoni Tàpies, Joan Ponç, Arnau Puig, and Joan-Josep Tharrats, he founded the Dau al Set group, which played a pivotal role in the Spanish artistic renewal.

His work evolved from his early magical realism and surrealism toward material informism and, later, toward figurative art of great expressive intensity. His work is represented in institutions such as the Reina Sofía Museum, MACBA, MNAC, the Girona Art Museum, IVAM, and the Cuixart Foundation, among others.