Joaquín Torres-García

Torres-García family archives nº 1124
Augusto Torres
Collection Alejandra, Aurelio & Claudio Torres

Girona, Fundació Caixa Girona, "Torres García: Darrere la màscara constructiva", November 2007 – January 2008
Barcelona, Oriol Galeria d'Art, "Torres-García: 30 pinturas de 1919 a 1949", June – September 2006
Valencia, IVAM, "El fuego bajo las cenizas (de Picasso a Basquiat)", May – August 2005
París, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, "Torres-García  1874-1949. Constructions et Symboles", June – August 1975
New York, Salander O'Reilly Galeries, Inc., "Joaquín Torres-García: Painting, Constructions and Drawings", 1981
Montevideo, Museo de Arte Precolombino, "Homenaje a Joaquín Torres-García: Juguetes, Objetos de Arte, Maderas", October 1974
Providence, Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art, "Joaquín Torres-García 1874-1949", February – March 1971
New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, "Joaquín Torres-García", December 1970 – January 1971
Ottawa, The National Gallery of Canada, "Joaquín Torres-García", October – November 1970
Houston, The Menil Collection, "Joaquín Torres-García. Constructing abstraction with wood", September 2009- January 2010
San Diego, San Diego Museum of Art, "Joaquín Torres-García. Constructing abstraction with wood", February 2010- May 2010

Enric Jardí, Torres-García, Barcelona, 1973, p. 227, illustrated in color
Juan Carlos Onetti & Guido Castillo, Torres-García, Madrid, 1975, pp. 46-47, illustrated
Juan Cabanas, El Pez de Torres-García, in "Mundo Hispánico", Madrid, 1975, p. 46
Vivian Raynor, Torres-García, Uruguyan Wanderer, in "The New York Times", September 25, 1981, New York, illustrated

In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1929 Uruguayan artist and theorist Joaquín Torres García, together with Belgian writer Michel Seuphor, founded the Cercle et Carré group in Paris to promote constructivist art in the avante garde movements. Other members included Le Corbusier, Mondrian, Arp, Schwitters, Vantongerloo, Ozenfant  and Kandinsky. What differentiated Torres Garcia was his aim to create a universal language based on new world imagery rather than be beholden to the artistic traditions of the old world.  Much of his inspiration came from the art and architecture of the Andean cultures such as the architecture of Machu Pichu, the geometry of the textiles and the pictographs in pottery and land art.  In the universal language he created, the fish symbolized movement and freedom. Although a classically trained artist, he pushed the limits of his materials by using found and often re-used wood as the members of the Arte Povera movement would do twenty years later.