Gerardo Rueda

(Madrid, 1926-1996)

Serie Diez más seis II

1990

four-colour silkscreen on paper (23/75)

77.8 x 55.9 cm

Inv. no. 6404

BBVA Collection Spain


Similarly to the rest of the artists in the circle based around the museum in Cuenca, Rueda was interested in everything to do with graphic work and prints, particularly following his trip to Paris in 1960 with Zóbel (1924-1984) and Antonio Lorenzo (1922-2009).
 
His print work up until the nineties consisted solely of silkscreens, though afterwards he also started to engage with chalcography.
 
In Spain, for a long time silkscreen printing was generally reserved for industrial purposes, and it was not until the late sixties that it began to garner attention from the art world, undoubtedly thanks to the wonderful editions produced for the Museo de Arte Abstracto de Cuenca. In fact, he had made his first work, Horizonte, for the museum back in 1964, which was printed by Abel Martín ─who used to work regularly with Sempere since his time in Paris, and who was largely responsible for the editions by the group from Cuenca─ though throughout his career he would work with various different print workshops.
 
Rueda reconciled the clarity and forthrightness of the execution with sentiment, emotion and mystery. His work combines geometry with other less defined lines, which in some cases remind us of collages made using the decoupage technique.
 
One of the most important series made by the artist, published by Estiarte in 1990, is his Diez más seis, with strong colouring further enhanced by the large size of the plates. These highly architectural compositions are full of intense colours that overstep their boundaries.