This work is characteristic of Feito’s production, with his use of a mixture of oil and sand. Basically limited to black, white and ochre, as from 1960 his sober palette would gradually incorporate red, which steadily gained more space until eventually dominating the canvas. The materials and forms used are not intended to symbolise or convey anything specific: they are just materials and forms he uses to achieve the visual impact he aspires to.

Feito began his practice with a brief figurative period and a short phase of cubist experimentation, before ending up, in the early 1950s, fully embracing abstraction influenced by Mark Rothko (1903-1970), Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935), Serge Poliakoff (1900-1969) and Hans Hartung (1904-1989). In 1956 he travelled to Paris thanks to a scholarship. There he discovered the

 matter-based painting 

“matteric” or matter-based painting is a tendency within informel art or

 art autre 

and art informel are terms coined by the French art critic Michael Tapié to describe the non-

 Geometric Abstraction 

A term introduced in the 1920s to name a kind of abstract art based on scientific and mathematical principles. The main goal was to eliminate all subjectivity in favour of art based on the essence of geometric forms. Its main champions were Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935) and Piet Mondrian (1872-1944).

that emerged in France in the 1950s, running parallel to US

 Abstract Expressionism 

This contemporary painting movement emerged within the field of abstraction in the 1940s in the United States, from where it spread worldwide. Rooted in similar premises and postulates as Surrealism, the Abstract Expressionist artists regarded the act of painting as a spontaneous and unconscious activity, a dynamic bodily action divested of any kind of prior planning. The works belonging to this movement are defined by the use of pure, vibrant primary colours that convey a profound sense of freedom. The movement’s main pioneers were, among others, Arshile Gorky (1904-1948) and Hans Hoffman (1880-1966). Leading Spanish exponents of the movement are Esteban Vicente (1903-2001) and José Guerrero (1914-1991), who lived for some time in New York City, where they were in first-hand contact with the many artistic innovations taking place there around that time.

. It was predicated on the spontaneous gesture, the use of matter, automatism and the lack of preconceived ideas.

, in which artists focused primarily on texture, obtained by using all kinds of materials, not necessarily coming from conventional art methods.

and the automatism that would exert such a great influence on his art. In 1957 he took part in founding the El Paso group.

In 1960 he was awarded the David Bright Prize at the 30^th Venice Biennale for his works on exhibit at the Spanish Pavilion, which included this particular painting, 167, as indicated on the label on the back. The mixture of sand and oil produced the dense impastos the artist uses in the circular forms we see in the upper section of the painting. The density of the impastos contrasts with the single tonality of the background with its diluted colour.