Artist
Joaquín Torres-García(Uruguayan, 1874–1949)Uruguayan, 1874–1949
CultureUruguayan
Titles
- Forma en tierra siena y negro
- Form in Sienna and Black
Date1932
MediumOil on wood
Dimensions17 1/4 × 15 1/16 × 1 in. (43.8 × 38.2 × 2.5 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment, and Alfred C. Glassell III, Leslie and Brad Bucher, Adolpho Leirner, Luis A. Benshimol, Mr. and Mrs. R.W. Wortham III, Celina Hellmund, Mr. and Mrs. William V. Morgan, Martin Cerruti, Mr. and Mrs. W. McComb Dunwoody, Linda and George B. Kelly, Tanya Brillembourg, Sofia Adrogué and Sten L. Gustafson, Samuel F. Gorman, Mr. and Mrs. Roy H. Cullen, Mr. and Mrs. Jose Luís Barragán, Carlos Cruz Puga, and Cecilia and Tomás Gunz
Object number2014.232
Current Location
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building
Gallery 205
Exposé
Explore Further
Department
Latin American ArtSpecial Collections
Object Type
Here, Torres-García deliberately exposes the raw and organic
properties of his materials— cheap wood, nails, and paint—revealing them as
incontrovertibly real. He even includes a piece of unpainted timber that
projects into the viewer’s space, making the structure “unclassifiable,” poised
between two-dimensional painting and three-dimensional sculpture. This work is
a key example of Torres-García’s wood constructions, known as maderas, in which the artist masterfully
combined a non-representational idiom with elements of the real world.
ProvenanceThe artist; by descent to his son, Horacio Torres, Montevideo, 1949; by inheritance to his son's wife, Cecilia de Torres, New York, 1979; sold to MFAH, 2014.
Exhibition History"Reclaiming the Spirit," Vrej Baghoomian Gallery, New York, April 20–May 25, 1991.
"Mostly Wood," Kouros Gallery, New York, March 11–April 10, 1993.
"65 Years of Constructivist Wood, 1932-1995," Cecilia de Torres, Ltd, New York, Autumn 1995.
"Abstract Art from the Río de la Plata, Buenos Aires - Montevideo 1933 - 1953," Americas Society, New York, September 2000–January, 2001; Museo de Arte Comtemporáneo Internacional Rufíno Tamayo, Mexico City, January 17, 2001–April 7, 2002.
"Joaquín Torres-García: un monde constuit," Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Strasbourg, France, May 24–September 8, 2002; Museo Colecciones ICO, Madrid, October 22, 2002–January 6, 2003.
"Joaquín Torres-García: Constructing Abstraction with Wood," The Menil Collection, Houston, September 25, 2009–January 3, 2010; San Diego Museum of Art, February 20–May 3, 2010.
"Constructed Dialogues: Concrete, Geometric, and Kinetic Art from the Latin American Art Collection," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, September 16, 2012–January 6, 2013.
"Joaquín Torres-García: The Arcadian Modern," The Museum of Modern Art, New York, October 25, 2015–February 15, 2016; Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, May 19–September 11, 2016; Museu Picasso, Málaga, Spain, October 10, 2016–February 5, 2017.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Numbered in black paint, recto lower left: 32
Paper labels on verso upper left:
A-1 # P99 / FORMA EN TIERRA SIENA Y NEGRA - 1 / 0.43 X 33 - Oleo – madera
Paper labels on verso upper left:
A-1 # P99 / FORMA EN TIERRA SIENA Y NEGRA - 1 / 0.43 X 33 - Oleo – madera
Initialled recto lower right: J.T.G.
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
If you have questions about this work of art or the MFAH Online Collection please contact us.
Sergio Torres-Torres
2009
Acrylic and graphite on canvas
2009.546.A-.C
