Eduardo Chillida Juantegui

(San Sebastián, 1924 – 2002)

Inguru IV

1968

engraving (etching and chine-collé) on paper

63.7 x 89.5 cm

Inv. no. P01763

BBVA Collection Spain



Eduardo Chillida is one of the key figures of the renewal of 20th Century Spanish art. Throughout his career he explores the concepts of matter, emptiness and light from an abstract language, creating a set of pieces in which apparently opposite ideas coexist in perfect balance.

Within his production, in addition to sculpture, graphics acquire a fundamental weight, since it allows him to investigate in two dimensions his three-dimensionally reflections. Thus in the late fifties, the artist began to research and experiment with engraving techniques. Just like in his sculpture, in his works on paper Chillida played with opposing concepts, like light and shadow, form and content, line and plane. This is visible in this work, where it can be acknowledged the play of thick black lines which, by being placed next to each other, leave thin white lines between them. The result is a solid whole with a forceful presence on the paper. With these pieces Chillida started to move away from his more linear early engravings. 

Regarding the technique, in this work, apart from
, Chillida uses
, method that allows him to create a subtle difference of tone. Besides, engraving on a vegetal paper superimposed on another paper of higher weight increases the quality of the print.

Basque culture is of the utmost importance in Chillida’s oeuvre. As he himself once stated: “I have my roots here, I create my work here, and it does not belong to me. I feel it with a desire for it to become a more universal culture by the day, but from our roots”. Indeed, his Basque roots are equally visible in the titles of his works, most of them in Basque. The title of this piece, Inguru, alludes to concepts such as “turn” and “surroundings”, strongly related with his gaze as a sculptor, a gaze that knows and at once discovers the piece by conceiving it from all viewpoints.