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Lot Essay
Fernando Zóbel is one of the most progressive abstractionists to emerge from Asia. Born in Manila, Zóbel was educated at Harvard and later the Rhode Island School of Design where he first encountered the major Western abstract artists, most significantly Mark Rothko, whose pared down reductionist works were to influence Zóbel throughout his life. Zóbel eventually established his studio in Cuenca, Spain, and it was here that he embarked on the one of the most definitive series of his career: the translucent gold-hued abstracts with an expanse of spatial latitude inspired by the river Júcar.
Painted in 1973, La Piedra II (Lot 226) captures the philosophy behind the Júcar series to a remarkable degree, for its subtle gradations of color, geometric symmetry, and above all, quietly meditative aesthetic. The Júcar series was primarily a lyrical contemplation on the quality of light, and how it merged or was filtered through other elements, such as the J?car river, the windows of Zóbel's studio or even its passage across a white wall. La Piedra's cool-toned ash color in the background, sliding between fractionally different shades, contrasts with the gold brushstroke down the centre - a technique Zóbel frequently employed to create the suggestion of a three-dimensional object at the heart of the image, but one whose form has been simplified and almost dissipated by the purity of visual abstraction. When observed together with other La Piedra works, for example La Piedra IV (Christie's Hong Kong, May 2012), a viewer realizes that Zóbel is attempting to articulate in visual format, certain metaphysical notions of time, place and being.
Júcar XV (Lot 227) belongs to the group of works specifically composed around the river Júcar. The interplay of sunlight on the changeable currents of the flowing water, the rocks and crevices of the riverbed, and the artist's own mood upon contemplating this natural vista all play a role in the eventual composition. By capturing the fixity of light at a brief moment in time, and the barest substance of perceptible objects seen through running water, Zóbel endeavored to create an emotional photograph, recorded through the minimalistic camera of one's nostalgia.
Painted in 1973, La Piedra II (Lot 226) captures the philosophy behind the Júcar series to a remarkable degree, for its subtle gradations of color, geometric symmetry, and above all, quietly meditative aesthetic. The Júcar series was primarily a lyrical contemplation on the quality of light, and how it merged or was filtered through other elements, such as the J?car river, the windows of Zóbel's studio or even its passage across a white wall. La Piedra's cool-toned ash color in the background, sliding between fractionally different shades, contrasts with the gold brushstroke down the centre - a technique Zóbel frequently employed to create the suggestion of a three-dimensional object at the heart of the image, but one whose form has been simplified and almost dissipated by the purity of visual abstraction. When observed together with other La Piedra works, for example La Piedra IV (Christie's Hong Kong, May 2012), a viewer realizes that Zóbel is attempting to articulate in visual format, certain metaphysical notions of time, place and being.
Júcar XV (Lot 227) belongs to the group of works specifically composed around the river Júcar. The interplay of sunlight on the changeable currents of the flowing water, the rocks and crevices of the riverbed, and the artist's own mood upon contemplating this natural vista all play a role in the eventual composition. By capturing the fixity of light at a brief moment in time, and the barest substance of perceptible objects seen through running water, Zóbel endeavored to create an emotional photograph, recorded through the minimalistic camera of one's nostalgia.