Salvador Victoria

(Rubielos de Mora, Teruel, 1928- Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, 1994)

Superposición

1971

gouache and collage on poster board

70 x 50 cm

Inv. no. P00968

BBVA Collection Spain



At the end of 1964 Salvador Victoria returned to Spain after spending ten years in Paris. And so he brought to an end a highly fruitful period that had acquainted him intimately with international avant-garde movements. Worth underscoring is his knowledge of the work and thinking of two artists who would be critical for his later practice: Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)—particularly his study of geometric forms and his connection with the cosmic—and Paul Klee (1879-1940) and his treatment of light, motifs and spiritual conception of art. At that time, Victoria had already taken part in significant European events, including the 30th Venice Biennale (1960) and the 2nd Paris Biennale (1961) held at the Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.

After arriving in Madrid he joined the roster of the recently opened Galería Juana Mordó. In 1965 he held his first solo exhibitions in Spain, organised at the Ateneo in Madrid and the Museum of Fine Arts of Bilbao. From that moment onwards he would exhibit his work on a regular basis for many years.

In his works from this time he began to organise the space with an evident influence from
. In the 1970s his works had already left behind the
of his Paris period and were now dominated by the forcefulness of geometric forms, especially the circle. Victoria was a serious-minded artist who conscientiously studied the visual qualities of his creations. The arrangement of the bodies in space, the harmony of colours and the suggestion of texture are key aspects in his practice.

Victoria had been using the technique of
since the 1960s to experiment with relief. Colour plays a decisive role in his collages, made on paper and board. His palette softened and acquired a strong light, something in which many critics detect the influence of the Valencian Post-Impressionism that marked his formative years.

In the works the artist called superposiciones (overlayerings) he took the volumetric potential offered by
to its maximum. He accurately and minutely built up layers of poster board die-cut by hand, placing acetates between them to increase the sensation of relief. Besides, he applied paint using
to reinforce the impression that the bodies are floating in an undetermined space. As seen in other examples of superposiciones in the BBVA Collection, the exploration he began in pieces like this would give rise to later developments and to greater complexity of forms and volumes.