20th - 21st Century Spanish

Francisco Farreras studied as a painter at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid. While living for a period in Paris he replaced the signature geometrising figuration of his early works for abstraction, firstly in a geometric style and then gradually imbued with an influence from Art Informel. During this time he created mosaics, stained glass works, mural paintings, public and private commissions, as in the case of the fresco he painted in 1956 for the chapel in the Navas del Marqués castle (Ávila).

In the 1960s, his interest in alternative materials led him to experiment with the use of sand and, in his best known works, with silk paper. In this period his work was exhibited in many shows touring throughout Europe and America organised by the Cultural Liaison Department of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In the 1960s Farreras moved to New York, where he created a mural for the Spanish pavilion at the city’s World Fair. Furthermore, he established a relationship with Bertha Schaefer Gallery, where he exhibited his works on several occasions. Upon returning to Spain he settled in Madrid. The creation of a mural- at Barajas airport in Madrid marked the beginning of a process of heightened formalism and lighter colouring in Farreras’ style, which in turn led to a series of relief works called Coudrages made with sewn canvases, a technique that he soon abandoned to embrace working with wood.

From then on, Farreras has continued working tirelessly. His most recent pieces are exhibited in top Spanish and international museums and galleries. Particularly noteworthy is the retrospective show organised in 1999 at Centro Cultural de la Villa de Madrid.