José Gurvich
Formas en blanco y negro

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Artist José Gurvich(Uruguayan, born Lithuania, 1927–1974)Uruguayan, born Lithuania, 1927–1974

CultureUruguayan

Titles

Formas en blanco y negro
Forms in Black and White

Date1959

MediumOil on board

Dimensions31 1/8 × 38 1/2 in. (79.1 × 97.8 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Pinta Museum Acquisition Fund; an anonymous donor in honor of Hugo V. Neuhaus, Jr.; the 2007 Latin American Experience Gala and Auction; and Dr. Luis and Cecilia Campos

Object number2008.96

Current Location

The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building

Gallery 205

Exposé

Explore Further

Department

Latin American Art

Object Type

PAINTING

Description

Gurvich combines the structural principles of the grid with
indigenous forms to create a strange, hybrid configuration that speaks to his
interest in Constructivism and fantastic realism. While the painting includes
key Constructive Universalist symbols, such as the snail, flower, and basic
geometric shapes, the orthogonal grid begins to disintegrate as these
pictographs melt or squirm around one another. The work could be read as a
whimsical creature or monster with a pulsating animistic life force.

ProvenanceThe artist; [Cecilia de Torres, Ltd., New York]; sold to MFAH, 2008.
Exhibition History"School of the South" Iturralde Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 1998

"School of the South: El Taller Torres-Garcia and Its Legacy," The Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, The University of Texas at Austin, June 1991 - May 1993.

"La Escuela Del Sur: El Taller Torres-Garcia Y Su Legados," Museu de Monterrey, 1991-1993 (?)

"North Looks South: Building the Latin American Art Collection," Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Upper Brown Pavilion, June 7 - September 27, 2009.

"Constructed Dialogues: Concrete, Geometric, and Kinetic Art from the Latin American Art Collection," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 16 September, 2012 - 6 January, 2013.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Signed in the image, lower left: "59. / J. GURVICH."

Printed labels on verso frame:

"museo de monterrey / EXPOSICION: "LA ESCUELA DEL SUR EL TALLER TERRES GARCIA Y SU LEGADOS / AUTOR JOSE GURVICH / TITULO: FORMOS EN BLANCO Y NEGRO FECHA : 1959 / TECNICA: OLEO SOBRE CARTON ... / COLECCION: MRS. ELIZABETH K. ...?ECA, NUEVA YORK ... "

"27. JOSE GURVICH / Formas en Blanco y Negro, 1959 / óleo sobre cartón, 79.5 x 98 cm. / CECILIA DE TORRES, LTD."

"ITURRALDE GALLERY / 154 N. La Brea Avenue / Los Angeles, CA 90036 / (213) 937-4267 / (in ink) SCHOOL OF THE SOUTH EXHIBITION, 1998 / JOSE GURVICH / Formas en blanco y negro / 1959 ... "

"CECILIA DE TORRES, LTD. / 140 GREENE STREET / ...NEW YORK ... / www.CECILIADETORRES.COM / JOSE GURVICH / Forms in Black & White, 1959 / ... "

"The Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery / The University of Texas at Ausstin / Exhibition: The School of the South: / El Taller Torres-Garcia and Its Legacy / Dates: 6/91 - 5/93 / Catalogue Number: 53"

"MUSEO / RUFINO / TAMAYO / Autor JOSE GURCICH, 1927-1974 / Titulo FORMAS EN BLANCO Y NEGRO / ... / Colección SRA ELIZAB... (label torn) / Museo Rufina Tamayo ... (label torn) / Paseo de la Reforma ... / Bosque de Chapultepec, ... "

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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