Matter is that which death cannot reach
Pablo Palazuelo
1915 - 2007
Pablo Palazuelo (Madrid, 1915-2007) is a global benchmark figure for Spanish abstract art from the second half of the 20th century. His pictures, sculptures and engravings (and even his forays into poetry and art theory) should be conceived of as a coherent whole.
Number, drawing, line, plane, space and colour are primordial elements in his creative oeuvre at the service of geometry. It was not in vain that the Madrid artist studied architecture and embraced painting without ever abandoning his great curiosity for ancient philosophy –the Pre-Socratics in particular–, contemporary physics as well as hermetic and oriental thought, studies which would remain with him to the end of his days.
With the Pythagoreans he shared the idea that mathematics constitute the language of Nature and that a lack of knowledge thereof makes one incapable of perceiving its beauty. “The process of points, lines, surfaces and colours –Palazuelo stated in 1976 – – is long, slow, tortuous, full of errors, blind alleys, doubts, anguish and danger, but throughout its course it also provides peace, balance, profound satisfaction, pleasure and an exhilarating freedom, because this process codifies the convergence of the painter’s affection with the sensation of nature”..
Palazuelo’s creative output is therefore an extension of his abstract output via other channels, which took shape both in the flatness of paper and canvas as well as in the spatial depth of his sculpture and architecture.
Bibliography
Spanish painter, engraver and sculptor who stands as one of the key figures in Spanish art from the second half of the 20th century. Intense post-impressionistic artistic activity involving work in which linear abstraction is predominant.
Find out about the monographs and exhibitions he carried out throughout his career.
Bibliografía PDF
Ordenaciones circulares
Pliegues diagonales
Constelaciones de signos
Mandalas y Yantras
Trazos relampagueantes
Líneas fluidas
Repeticiones poligonales
Influencia de Klee, París
Formación arquitectónica, Oxford
Inicios
1915
Born in Madrid on 8 October.
1932- 1933
Started to study architecture in Madrid. Completed foundation course for a degree in Architecture at Madrid University, and took drawing classes at an academy in the city.
1933- 1936
Continued with his architectural studies at the School of Arts and Crafts in Oxford, where he passed the Intermediate Exams at the Royal Institute of British Architects.
1936- 1939
At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he abandoned his architectural studies and returned to Spain where he completed his military service.
1939
After the end of the war, he devoted himself entirely to painting, starting with figurative works.
1945
One of his portraits was included in the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Fine Arts Exhibition) at the Retiro Park Exhibition Palaces.Two still lifes influenced by Cubism and a drawing of a child’s head were exhibited at La joven escuela de Madrid (The Madrid Young School) show, on display at the Buchholz Gallery in Madrid, which also included works by José Guerrero, Antonio Lago and the sculptor Carlos Ferreiro.
1946
Formed part of La joven escuela de Madrid in 1946 and 1947. He would regularly exhibit works with this group at the aforementioned Buchholz Gallery in Madrid.
1947
Took painting classes in Madrid with Daniel Vázquez Díaz. Executed his first abstract drawings, two of which were published in a poetry magazine.Exhibited three works at the Exposición de Arte Español Contemporáneo (Contemporary Spanish Art Exhibition), held at the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires.
1948
As of this year Palazuelo distanced himself from figurative references and focussed on abstraction.Tomás Seral and Mathias Goeritz presented their Homenaje a Paul Klee (Homage to Paul Klee) at the Palma Gallery and Clan Bookshop in Madrid, to which Palazuelo contributed a drawing dedicated to said artist, which was exhibited alongside works by Benjamín Palencia, Llorens Artigas, Àngel Ferrant and Goeritz himself. It was during this period that Palazuelo gained access to the first colour reproductions of works by Klee, whose influence was fundamental to his creative output.The French Institute in Madrid awarded him a grant to study in Paris. For a time he lived in the Cité Universitaire campus, coinciding with Ellsworth Kelly, and he became friends with Eduardo Chillida. He met Bernard Dorival, curator at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris, who enabled him to participate, alongside Chillida, in the May Salon that year. Six of his canvasses were included in a group exhibition at the Denise René Gallery.
1949
The Maeght husband and wife gallery-owners showed interest in his work, inviting him to join the Les mains éblouies (Dazzled Hands) group exhibitions at their gallery. Selected once again for the May Salon by Aimé Maeght and Louis Clayeux, thereby joining the Paris gallery’s list of artists. His work was included in The New Prehistorics section of the New Artists collection.Klee’s influence can be observed in works such as Sur Noir or Nocturno.
1950
Moved into a new workshop next door to Chillida’s studio in Villaines-sour-Bois. Participated once again in both the May Salon and Les mains éblouies. Took part in the group exhibition at the Art Club Gallery in Vienna and at the Museum of Toronto.
1951
Palazuelo moved to an apartment on the Rue Saint-Jaccques in the Latin Quarter, near to the church of Saint-Séverin, where he would live until 1963. He started to purchase books, building up an extensive library including texts of oriental mysticism and by contemporary scientists, on the advice, to start with, of Claude d’Yge. Presented the works Rouge, Variations and Dans at the Tendances exhibition.
1952
Winner of the Kandinsky Award for painting. Carried out a stage project for Wassily Kandinsky’s Sonorité jaune.Tendance group exhibition held at the Maeght Gallery in Paris, including Palazuelo’s works Automnes and Alborada. The canvas Composition on display at the show Rhytmes et couleurs at the Cantonal Museum of Fine Arts in Lausanne. He also participated in the exhibition Peintres d’aujourd’hui à Paris, in the Zurich Kunsthaus.
1953
His work Variations displayed at the Young Spanish Artists exhibition organised by James Jonson Sweeney at The Salomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, belonging to said museum’s collection.Undertook the first reordering of his compositions with a geometric approach that he called “transgeommetry”, based on the discovery of a mysterious oriental treatise.
1954
His first foray into the world of sculpture, with the bronze work Ascendente, a facet he would fully develop as of 1977. His work included in the exhibition Tendances actuelles de l'École de Paris, at the Berne Kunsthalle.
1955
First solo show at the Maeght Gallery, exhibiting oil works such as Sobre negro, Solitudes, Alto, Psello and Imagen. Took part in the Du futurisme á l’art abstract exhibition at the Lausanne Museum.Also selected for the first time for the International Carnegie award at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. Executed works made up of polygonal repetitions and dark brown colour schemes.
1956
Works Psello, and Solitudes II displayed at the Beyeler Gallery in Basel as part of the Abstrakte Maler show.
1958
Second individual exhibition at the Maeght Gallery, including paintings from the Rima, Jardins, Temps, Le Grande étude, and Soledades series, plotting a path through 23 works demonstrating a development of spatial tensions on canvas.Winner of the fifth Carnegie International award for a work from the Mandala group, at the Internacional Museum of Art (Pittsburgh Carnegie Institute). Took part in the Kunst und Naturform exhibition at the Zurich Kunnsthaus, bringing together abstract works and photos taken with a microscope.
1959
Participated in the Blanco y Negro group show at Madrid’s Darro Gallery.Five of his works displayed at the Paris Museum of Decorative Arts show under the title Treize Peintres Espagnols Actuels.
1960
Having taken part in the Zurich Kunsthaus exhibition, the book Kunst und Naturform / Form in Art and Nature was published.His works on display at the Maeght Gallery as part of the group show Poètes, peintres,
1961
Took part once again in the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh (Carnegie Institute), as well as exhibiting at the American Federation of Art in New York.Started on an ensemble of series such as Terres and Champ, with fluid lines making up compositions akin to fluvial landscapes.
1962
A return to three-dimensional works with four scale models for sculptures intended for Hisa Group buildings. Models that made the jump to sculptural scope 17 years later, to become Arca and Horizontal.Fluid lines gave rise to polygons with rounded corners for the Omphale series.
1963
The artist returned to Spain but without yet setting up permanent residence in his native country.The Maeght Gallery in Paris put on another individual exhibition of his works, with a total of 28 pieces on display, including gouaches, drawings and canvasses such as Les Trois, Onde, Terre, Omphale and Rime.Escrituras published, containing five drawings in the Madrid poetry magazine Trece de nieve.
1964
Inauguration of the Marguerite et Aimé Maeght Foundation in Saint-Paul de Vence. Displaying Palazuelo’s work Omphale II.Took part in the group show to inaugurate the Juana Mordó Gallery.Palazuelo exhibited Noir Central at the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh (Carnegie Institute). This year saw awards go to Saura and Chillida.
1965
Palazuelo undertook the project for a wooden coffered ceiling at the Madrid home of Juan Huarte.
1966
Exhibited once again in the May Salon at the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris. Took part in the Aspekte, 1944-1955 exhibition at the Beyeler Gallery in Basel, and in the 6th Manton Biennale and the Paris National Library’s Room of Engravings. Also present at the Maeght Foundation’s Dix ans d’art vivant in Saint-Paul de Vence.
1967
The magazine Forma Nueva. El Inmueble brings together works by the architects Sáenz de Oíza, Fernández Alba and Fullaondo, alongside those of the artists Millares, Oteiza, Chillida and Palazuelo in the Hisa Exhibition Rooms in Madrid. The Madrid artist collaborated in the First New Form Exhibition with drawings and paintings.The cities of Bochum, Nuremberg, Berlin and Baden Baden hosted the Current Spanish Art exhibition, in which Palazuelo took part.Took part once again in the Maeght Foundation’s Dix ans d’art vivant in Saint-Paul de Vence.Presented the work Semilla Negra at the Carnegie International in Pittsburgh (Carnegie Institute).
1968
The series of gouaches titled Lunariae provided inspiration for a number of poems written by Max Hölzer. The linear compositions start to coalesce in vertical brushstrokes bringing together a range of symbols leading to lightning series based on works such as Smara and Zahara.
1969
Moved into the family home in Galapagar, La Peraleda.Winner of the Engraving Award at the International Engraving Biennale in Ljubljana.
1970
New solo show at the Maeght gallery, including works from Cadmio, Smara, Orto and Lunariae. Also took part in the group exhibition organised to inaugurate the new headquarters of the Maeght Gallery in Zurich. Entered the Carnegie International for the last time.
1971
Strasburg’s Museum of Modern Art put on Agora I, where Palazuelo exhibited Mandala II and Orto IV.
1972
The Museum of Fine Arts of La Chaux-de-Fonds dedicated a retrospective to Palazuelo, and purchased the canvas Orto III.Titled Palazuelo. Obilider. Gouachen, the Zurich headquarters of the Maeght Gallery dedicated a solo show to him.Maeght published Lunariae, an ensemble of 16 aquatints with poems by Max Hölzer.
1973
The Iolas Velasco Gallery put on Palazuelo’s first Madrid solo exhibition following his period in France.Carried out painting work on the ceilings of the foyer of the Madrid headquarters of Bankinter.Took part in the Homenaje a Manolo Millares (Homage to Manolo Millares) show, held at the Madrid gallery Juana Mordó.Works by Palazuelo included in the Constructivismo group exhibition at the René Metrás gallery.
1974
Palazuelo bought a 14th-century castle in the town of Monroy, Extremadura, which he restored with the help of his brother, Juan. He set up his workshop in one room in the building and started the Monroy series.His paintings from this period go beyond the duality of figure and form, reconciling them using oriental diagrams depicted in Mandalas and Yantras.His work was included in the exhibition Arte de nuestro tiempo (Art of our Time), which inaugurated the Theo Gallery, managed in Madrid by Fernando Mignoni and Elvira González.The work Monroy I was displayed at the inauguration of the Barcelona headquarters of the Maeght Gallery.
1975
The Turner Gallery dedicated the Madrid individual exhibition Palazuelo. Gouaches y obra gráfico (Palazuelo. Gouaches and Graphic Work) to him.Orto V and Monroy I chosen for Contemporary Spanish Painting. Miró and after, a Selection, organized by the Internacional Exhibitions Foundation in Washington, touring North American cities such as New York, Raleigh, Dallas and Wichita.Took part in Hommage à Kandinsky at Paris’ Denise René Gallery.His work chosen by the Theo Gallery for two group exhibition in Madrid: El cubismo y su proyección actual (Cubism and its current projection), and Españoles universales del siglo XX (Universal Spaniards of the 20th Century).Palazuelo participated in Pintores constructivistas españoles (Spanish Constructivist Painters), at Madrid’s Kandinsky Gallery.
1976
Five aquatints included to illustrate the text by Michel Coutourier in L'Ablatif absolu, published by the Maeght Gallery.Provided text for the catalogue dedicated to Luis Gordillo
1977
The Maeght Gallery in Barcelona and the Theo Gallery in Madrid hosted exhibitions featuring Palazuelo’s paintings, drawings and tapestries, and an ensemble of sculptures on which he had been working since 1967.From this point on he started collaborative projects, occasionally on tapestries with Josep Royo, and with Pere Casanovas, in whose workshop they would work on sculptures until the end of his career.Took part in the exhibition paying homage to Juan Gris at the Theo Gallery in Madrid.The Spanish public TV programme Trazos, directed by Paloma Chamorro, aired two reportages on his exhibitions, including a lengthy interview in which the painter explained his working process.
1978
In Paris R.L.D. Éditeur published the book Ardicia, with poems by José Miguel Ullán and eight engravings by Palazuelo. During this period his work saw a resurgence of symbolic constellations, where compositions were made up of groupings of graphic signs through geometric codes. In the same vein he worked on the series El número y las aguas (Number and Waters), which was included in his exhibition at the Paris Maeght Gallery, alongside sculptures and the Cantoral series. Solo show at the Theo Gallery in Madrid, and at the Bank of Granada Exhibition Room. Also took part in the group exhibition Pintura Española del siglo XX (Twentieth-Century Spanish Painting) at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, and Otra dimensión (Another Dimension), at the Theo Gallery in Madrid.
1979
Inauguration of the Museum of Abstract Open-Air Sculpture on Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana, including Palazuelo’s: Proyecto para un monumento IV (Project for a Monument IV) (1978). This was a large-scale sculpture in Corten steel, made from an aluminium model and various preparatory drawings.His work on display in group exhibition at the Art in Progress Gallery in Munich and Spanish Vanguardia abstracta española (Abstract Avant-garde) at the Theo in Madrid.
1980
Publication of the first monograph dedicated to Palazuelo, written by Claude Esteban and published by Maeght, going through his work right from the very beginning. The Lille Music Festival included the musical composition El número y las aguas, written by Fréderic Nyst in collaboration with Palazuelo. The painter also executed the lithographs for Jean Daive’s book Exercises, published by Maeght.
1981
In March he signed the manifesto Por la libertad, la democracia y la constitución (For Freedom, Democracy and the Constitution), written following the failed Spanish coup d’état. The Theo Gallery put on an exhibition in Madrid of his paintings, sculptures and gouaches. His sculpture also on display at Denmark’s Herning Kunstmuseum.
1982
Awarded the 1981 Gold Medal for Fine Arts and also winner of the Cáceres Sculpture Award. That same year saw his work Lauda II installed at Barajas Airport in Madrid. His work selected for Pintura abstracta (Abstract Painting) at the March Foundation, and Escultura abstracta (Abstract Sculpture) at Madrid’s Municipal Museum.
1983
Palazuelo prepared a course he would be giving at the Spanish Circle of Fine Arts. Took part in the Homenaje a Eusebio Sempere (Homage to Eusebio Sempere) at Madrid’s Banco Exterior and in Artistas por los derechos humanos (Artists for Human Rights), at the Villa Cultural Centre in Madrid.
1984
The Spanish Congress of Deputies commissioned him to make a sculpture for the Building of the parliamentary groups. In addition, the sculpture Laula V was installed in Barcelona’s Parc de l’Espanya Industrial.He executed a sculptural stained glass work for a Madrid private collection. Took part in group exhibitions Spanske Kunst (Spanish Art) at the Nouvelles Images Gallery in The Hague, and Invocación a la Quimera (Invoking the Chimera), at Maeght’s Barcelona gallery.Taught a course as part of the Madrid Fine Arts Circle’s Current Art Workshop, an institution housing two small-scale oil works of his originating from the legacy of Juana Mordó.
1985
Taught a new course at the Madrid Fine Arts Circle’s Taller de arte actual (Current Art Workshop). The two courses were put together in the publication of a book including their transcriptions, titled Geometría docente (Educational Geometry). This year and the next he would participate in the exhibition Présence de la réalité dans l'art espagnol contemporain (Presence of Reality in Contemporary Spanish Art), which would tour various European and South American cities.The Theo in Madrid put on another solo exhibition of his work.The sculptures Lauda V, Umbral II and Lauda VI on display in Presence of Reality in Spanish Art, an exhibition touring Finland in 1985 and in a range of European and Hispano-American cities the next year.
1986
Editing of the record El número y las aguas, examining the correspondence between pictorial symbols and sounds, by the Belgian composer Frédéric Nyst. The editing process was undertaken at CEMAMU-Centre d'Etudes de Mathématique et Automatisme Musical in Paris, through a computerised system created by Iannis Xenakis. The magazine El Paseante published an interview with Palazuelo, and included a number of sheet music fragments redrawn especially for this publication. The Maeght-Lelong Gallery put on a Palazuelo solo show in Paris.
1987
In March Palazuelo undertook to prepare a project for a public space with fountains in Madrid which was never finally executed. A selection of paintings, sculptures and gouaches on display at the Theo Gallery in Madrid.Individual exhibition Palazuelo Obra recent (Palazuelo Recent Work) held at the Carles Taché Gallery in Barcelona.Participated in the El siglo de Picasso (Century of Picasso) show at the Ville de Paris Museum of Modern Art, as part of the Cinq siècles d'art espagnol (Five Centuries of Spanish Art) exhibition programme, organized by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
1988
El siglo de Picasso exhibited at the Reina Sofia National Art Centre in Madrid.Presented an exhibition of graphic work at the Estiarte Gallery in Madrid.
1989
The exhibition El siglo de Picasso shown at the Reina Sofia National Art Centre in Madrid.Also took part in group shows: L’art pour l’Europe. Sculpture Espagnole Contemporaine (Art for Europe. Spanish Contemporary Sculpture), at the Headquarters of the European Council in Strasburg, and España. Arte abstracto (Spain. Abstract Art), at Artcurial in Paris.During this period he began work on compositions of a markedly diagonal character, with series such as Arquetipo, Trasverse or Conjunctionis.
1990
Palazuelo completed a metallic mural for the foyer of the Torre Picasso in Madrid.
1991
His first individual exhibition at the Soledad Lorenzo Gallery in Madrid. The gallery would continue to support him throughout his career.
1992
Four canvases from the Nigredo series chosen for the Paisajes. Actualidad del arte español (Landscapes. Current situation of Spanish Art) at the Spanish Pavilion of the Seville Expo.
1993
Exhibition of Obra sobre papel (Work on Paper) at the Bilbao Museum of Fine Arts.Took part in Escultura española del siglo XX (Spanish 20th-Century Sculpture) at the Auditorium of Galicia, Santiago de Compostela.Winner of the Madrid Autonomous Region Award for Visual Arts.
1994
A number of shows of his work organised at the Banco Zaragozano Exhibition Rooms in Zaragoza, at the Daralhorra Palace and at that of the Condes de Gabia in Granada, as well as in the Casa del Cordón in Burgos. New solo exhibition at the Soledad Lorenzo in Madrid. Winner of the Tomás Francisco Prieto Award, from the Casa de la Moneda (Spanish Mint) Foundation in Madrid.
1995
First retrospective of his work up to the 90s, curated by Marta González, held at the Reina Sofia in Madrid and at the Valencia Institute of Modern Art.
1996
He displayed his most recent sculptural works at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, including a previously unseen piece of daidala, Indret. A programme on Spanish public TV, directed by Paloma Chamorro, examines his work and working process.
1997
Another show at the Soledad Lorenzo in Madrid showing works from the past three years. The artist’s first solo exhibition at the Joan Prats Gallery in Barcelona.
1998
Involved in the eight-side glass “lantern” or impluvio, at the Barcelona Music Auditorium. Took part in the exhibition Dibujos germinales (Germinal Sketches) at the Reina Sofia in Madrid.
1999
Madrid’s Casa de la Moneda (National Mint) Museum dedicated a solo exhibition to him, titled Pablo Palazuelo. Esculturas, dibujos y gouaches 1993-1998 (Pablo Palazuelo. Sculptures, Drawings and Gouaches 1993-1998).New show at the Soledad Lorenzo in Madrid.
2001
A return to the circular compositions that had maintained a sporadic presence in his work, in order to formulate a predominately orbital arrangement in the output of his final decade.
2003
The artist presented an individual exhibition at the Joan Prats Gallery in Barcelona.
2004
Winner of the Velázquez Award for Visual Arts.Final solo show at the Soledad Lorenzo in Madrid.
2005
The Reina Sofia presented an exhibition of his works from the past ten years: Pablo Palazuelo 1995-2005.
2006
Barcelona’s Museum of Contemporary Art held a retrospective of the artist’s entire career, Palazuelo Proceso de trabajo (Palazuelo: Working Process), in co-production with the Guggenheim in Bilbao, to which it would travel in spring 2007, subsequently moving on the Sao Paulo Museum.
2007
The artist died on 3 October at his home in Galapagar, Madrid, where he continued to draw every day. His work continues to feature at numerous exhibitions.
