LUIS FEITO (Madrid, 1929-2021).
"En Souvenir de Lobo III" nº 1439, 1987.
Oil on canvas.
With exhibition stamps on the back.
Signed, dated, titled and located (New York) on the back.
Measurements: 153 x 153 cm; 164 x 164 cm (frame).
Work exhibited at: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, "Feito. Works 1952-2002", Madrid 28 May-26 August 2002.
-Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art, "Feito", Madrid May-July 1988.
-Casal Solleric, "Feito. Works 1952-2002", Palma de Mallorca 19 September-October, 2002.
-Palacio Municipal de Exposiciones Kiosko Alfonso, "Feito. Pobra 1952-2002", La Coruña 22 November 2002-6 January 2003.
Work reproduced in: Fernando Huici, "Feito". Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art, Madrid, 1988, p. 109.
-Mercedes Replinger and Carmen Bernárdez Sanchís, "Feito. Works 1952-2002. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid 2002, p. 298.
This abstract composition, in which gestures and geometry coexist in complete harmony, is Feito's homage to his faithful companion Lobo. His dog Lobo, an Alaskan Malamute, was the only protagonist of Feito's titles, who normally used to number his works without linking the piece to any specific concept, thus giving prominence to the exercise of painting.
Born and trained in Madrid, he was one of the founding members of the El Paso group. In 1954 he held his first solo exhibition of non-figurative works at the Buchholz gallery in Madrid. From then on Feito exhibited regularly in the most important cities in the world, such as Paris, Milan, New York, Helsinki, Tokyo and Rome. Appointed professor at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in 1954, two years later he left teaching and went to Paris on a scholarship to study the avant-garde movements in force. During this period he was influenced by automatism and matter painting. In 1962 he became a founding member of the El Paso group, with which he had lost contact during his years in Paris. His first works were figurative painting, followed by a phase in which he experimented with cubism and finally moved fully into abstraction. At first he only used black, ochre and white colours, but when he discovered the potential of light he began to use more vivid colours and smooth planes. He evolved until he used red as a counterpoint in his compositions (from 1962) and, in general, more intense colours. In his abstract phase, which includes the 1970s, Feito showed a clear tendency towards simplification, with the circle predominating in his compositions as a geometric form. Possibly, the influence of Japanese art can be seen in his preference for large bands of black. Most of his works are untitled and can therefore be recognised by a number assigned to them. Among his awards is his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters of France in 1985. In 1998 he was awarded the Gold Medal of Fine Arts in Madrid, and was made a Full Member of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In 2000 he was awarded the Prize of the Spanish Association of Art Critics at the Estampa Salon, in 2002 the AECA Grand Prize for the best international artist at ARCO, in 2003 the prize for the most important artist at the Osaka Art Fair (Japan), in 2004 the Prize for the Culture of Plastic Arts of the Community of Madrid, in 2005 the Francisco Tomás Prieto Prize of the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, and in 2008 the Jorge Alió Foundation Prize and the Grand Prize for Spanish Contemporary Art CESMAI. Luis Feito is represented in the most important museums all over the world, including the Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, the Guggenheim, the MoMA and the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, the Museums of Modern Art in Tokyo, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Montreal, the Lissone in Italy, etc.