Augusto Torres

AUGUSTO TORRES (Tarrasa, Barcelona, 1913 - Barcelona, 1992).
"Still life with bread", 1979.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower right corner.
With Dau al Set label on the back.
Measurements: 65 x 81 cm; 78 x 94 cm (frame).

The work of Augusto Torres maintained a complex and deeply rooted relationship with that of his father, Joaquín Torres García. Augusto not only adopted, but also developed and personalized the strong family heritage. Like the master, he rigorously followed the principles of Constructivism, employing the structural grid and an iconography of universal symbols that he combined with representations of everyday objects. His commitment to the legacy was institutional: he was an active member of the Constructive Art Association and the Torres García Workshop, founded by his father.

Son of the painter Joaquín Torres García, this composition shows the influence of the plastic constructivism led by his father. Augusto Torres spent his childhood between New York and various cities in Italy, France and Spain. In March 1930 he held his first exhibition in Paris, organized by his father, which also included works by his sisters Olimpia and Ifigenia. The family returns to Montevideo in 1934, and there Joaquín Torres García founds the Asociación de Arte Constructivo, of which Augusto will be a member. In 1942 he studied pre-Columbian art in Bolivia, and on his return he continued to take an active part in the former Asociación de Arte Constructivo, by then Taller Torres García. He will show his work in the workshop's collective exhibitions, and will not exhibit individually until 1961. In the sixties he travels to New York on a scholarship, and when his father's workshop closes in 1965, Augusto Torres begins his own path and holds his major exhibition at the American Society Art Gallery. Throughout his career, he also painted murals in Montevideo, Buenos Aires and Barcelona. He is currently represented in the Torres García Museum in Montevideo, among other public and private collections.