JOAQUÍN TORRES GARCÍA (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1874 - 1949)."Lady and seamstress".Mixed media on

JOAQUÍN TORRES GARCÍA (Montevideo, Uruguay, 1874 - 1949).
"Lady and seamstress".
Mixed media on paper.
With missing upper right corner, restorations and slight damage to the frame.
Signed in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 65 x 43,5 cm; 101 x 80,5 cm (frame).
In this work we can appreciate a certain influence of the Belle Epoque style, through the representation of the woman and the forms adopted by the author, in the configuration of the outline. These characteristics invite the viewer to think of an early work by the artist, prior to his arrival in Paris. Torres García was closely linked to Catalan noucentisme, working for several magazines such as Pèl & Ploma. His friendship with the modernist painter Ramón Casas had a strong influence on his painting, as can be seen in this work on paper.
Torres García wanted to find a way of creating a universal art and, in this way, the bases of his pictorial thought are resolved by means of constructive universalism, where art is understood as that which unites man and nature. Thus, Torres García created his own plastic language using symbols and formal resources combined with tradition and modernity. Before his arrival in Paris in 1926 he had already explored abstraction and other avant-garde practices, but from that moment on he was immersed in the cultural and intellectual context that led him towards the consolidation of his mature style. On this path of stylistic fixation, Torres-García drew from various inspirations, especially from the dominant group in this context, the Surrealists. In addition, he was especially attracted to the ideas of the creators of Neo-Plasticism - Van Doesburg and Mondrian - whose rigorous geometry and pure colours, along with mystical spiritualism and utopian vision, married well with his beliefs about the intersection of art and life. His study of the ancient arts of the Americas was crucial, as it provided him with the element that would allow him to move from pure geometry to a particular approach to abstraction linked to European avant-garde practices and the archetypal forms of pre-Columbian art. The present work is an extraordinary example of the innovation that led Torres-García to develop his characteristic style, which defines his unique contribution to the history of avant-garde art.
After beginning his training as a self-taught artist, Torres-García emigrated in 1890 in order to train as a painter. In 1892 he settled in Barcelona and enrolled at the School of Fine Arts, where he came into contact with French Impressionism and artists such as Mir, Sunyer, Canals and Nonell. He combined this school with classes at the Baixas Academy, which was highly reputed at the time. From 1894 he took part in the General Exhibitions of Fine Arts in the foreign section. During this decade he published several drawings in newspapers and magazines such as "La Vanguardia", "Iris", "Barcelona Cómica". In 1901 he began to paint in fresco, attracted by the timeless spirit of the ancient works executed in this technique, and entered into a dynamic of interdisciplinary work. He also worked in decoration, a field in which his collaboration with Antoni Gaudí in the cathedral of Palma de Mallorca stands out. Around 1910 he began to introduce formal elements typical of Catalonia into his work, imbued with the spirit of vindication of the Catalan identity of the time. In 1920 he moved to New York and came into contact with artists of the stature of Weber, Man Ray and Duchamp. Shortly afterwards he returned to Europe and settled in Paris, where he frequented the meetings of the group led by Mondrian, thus moving closer to abstraction and constructivism. In 1934 he finally decided to return to Montevideo, where he was received as a member of the European artistic elite.