Untitled (1972), 1972

Acquired directly from the Artist Private Collection, United States

Luis Feito Lopez moved to Paris in 1955 and later New York in 1983. He studied at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts, Madrid and was a founding member of the El Paso Group, in Cuenas. His early pictures favoured figurative subjects that were influenced by Cubism, however his work developed into Abstraction with an emphasis on automatism. “Untitled (1972)” features Lopez’s first trademark form in his work, the circle, which he introduced in the 1960s. The work also features Lopez’s characteristic range of colours. While black, white, and ochre were to dominate his palette in his early career, red became fundamental to his practice around 1960. In the 1970s his work became softer with more muted colours and geometric forms. The areas of smooth canvas contrast with the heavy impasto of the circle and configuration along the lower edge and highlight Lopez’s fascination with materiality. The artist often explored this concept by mixing sand into oil paint as can be seen in the lower part of this work.