Fernando Zobel

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Rafael Perez-Madero who has issued a certificate of authenticity for it. Additionally, the painting is included in the Inventory of works by Fernando Zobel as a work from 1959, and not 1962.

The work is in good condition overall, as is the canvas, which is clear and taut. Indication of light wear and handling is evident around the edges of the painting inherent to the framing process, but the paint layers are well-preserved. Under ultraviolet light inspection reveals no evidence of restoration. Framed.
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The pioneering artist Fernando Zobel has always been fascinated with expressing movement throughout his body of works. Continuously exploring color, space and gesture throughout his oeuvre, Zobel ultimately introduced a new mode of abstract shapes in the paintings. In the most minimalist from of aestheticism, the artist layered variants of black and white tones in his paintings. Zobel’s dialogue ultimately denotes dynamic and assertive forms of expression.

It all began when Fernando Zobel saw “[the] tangled lines of the scaffoldings, [the] silhouette against the sky [he] found the elusive motif for his painting. There on the scaffoldings of rising buildings was his Saetas Series, the beauty of lines [that were] taut against the sky. The cadence created by carefully planned densities. That was what the scaffoldings told Zobel. And with a mind already convinced of the validity of pure abstract relationships, it did not take Zobel long to carry what he saw to its farthest logical consequence.” ¹

The Saetas Series demonstrates Fernando Zobel’s language and motion of pure linear architecture, which is articulated in the present work Sin Titulo (Untitled). Executed in 1962, it was the same year Zobel received the privileged of becoming the university’s first doctor honoris causa, and simultaneously awarded Honorary Director of the Manila Universidad del Ateneo Museum.

Exploring space in the most basic forms, the artist’s techniques were truly complex, and captivating. “You might define the Saetas as drawing in thin lines against a field of color. The real technical problem involved – one that took a long time to solve – was how to draw in oil paint, a line that could be very long if necessary, as well as thin and controllable,”²  as emphasized by the artist. Lines are applied intricately onto the canvas by a “hypodermic syringe needle” technique, rendering a performance of lyrical lines that are painstakingly traced and highly spontaneous.³

One of the final compositions within the Saetas Series, Sin Titulo (Untitled)is a significant example of the artist’s transition to his monumental Negra Series. Courageous in his choice of structures and forms, Fernando Zobel’s gesture of black lines on white canvas is undoubtedly the purest abstract period of the artist’s oeuvre.

¹Rod. Paras-Perez, Fernadno Zobel, Eugenio Lopez Foundation, Inc., manila, 1990, p. 35-36
²Refer to 1
³ Rafael Pèrez-Madero, Zobel, Ediciones Rayuela, Madrid, 1978, p.85