Antoni Clavé

ANTONI CLAVÉ (Barcelona, 1913 – Saint-Tropez, France, 2005).
“Peinture,” 1964.
Oil on canvas.
Signed.
Certificate of authenticity issued by Archives Antoni Clavé included.
Measurements: 55 × 76 cm; 78 × 96 cm with frame.

Work created in 1964, a time when Antoni Clavé was fully immersed in a material and abstract language, moving away from the more recognizable figurative style of his earlier years. The composition is built through the superimposition of planes, glazes, stains, and graphic marks, creating a dense and enigmatic surface where the image seems to emerge through sedimentation.

The palette, dominated by earth tones, blacks, and grays, is enlivened by green and white accents that introduce visual tension and depth. This evocative work belongs to Clavé’s informalist universe, in which pictorial matter, gesture, and the artist’s mark take on an essential role. The composition functions as a space of resonances, fragments, and latent presences.

Antoni Clavé was one of the key figures in Catalan art of the second half of the 20th century. Trained in Barcelona and based in Paris after the Civil War, he developed a wide-ranging career as a painter, printmaker, sculptor, and set designer. His work evolved from expressive figuration toward styles close to Informalism and material abstraction. His work is represented in institutions such as the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, the MNAC, the MACBA, the British Museum, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.