Francisco Farreras Ricart

(Barcelona, 1927 - Madrid, 2021)

Untitled

1976

collage on board

130 x 130 cm

Inv. no. 2498

BBVA Collection Spain


Farreras began his studies in Santa Cruz, Tenerife and continued in 1943 in Madrid, where he was taught by Daniel Vázquez Díaz (1882-1969). For this reason, his earliest works fall into the category of geometric figurativism, after the manner of his teacher. After his period in Paris (1953-55) his work became immersed in Abstraction, subsequently incorporating elements of Matter painting, which brought him close to the
Informalismo that was beginning to emerge at a European level. In the late fifties he experimented with other artistic techniques: stained glass, mosaics, murals and collages with tissue paper and sand. His special interest in investigating new materials alien to normal artistic practice led him to work with sand, various types of translucent paper — particularly tissue paper — and later with what he called coudrages (sewn fabrics) and wood. In the late eighties he abandoned this technique and devoted himself exclusively to wooden reliefs.
 
In 1964 he took part in the Spanish pavilion at New York World’s Fair with a mural, evidence of his role as a representative of the avant-garde on the international stage. Recalling that mural of the emblematic city of Toledo, we seem to glimpse a geography in this
, a mountain range, even bearing in mind the lack of intentionality in Farreras’s work. The chosen composition contrasts with other earlier works by being much more serene and horizontal.