Eloy Laguardia

ELOY LAGUARDIA (Zaragoza, 1927).
Untitled, c. 1980.
Pencil on paper.
Measurements: 24 x 17 cm; 32 x 23 cm (frame).
Precursor of the abstraction in Spain, part of the group portico.
Eloy Giménez Laguardia is an outstanding Spanish painter, recognized for his contribution to the development of pictorial abstraction in Spain. His artistic career was marked by his membership in the Grupo Portico, a pioneering group in the exploration of abstract painting, which he joined in 1948.
His academic training took place at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios y Maestría Industrial de Zaragoza, where he studied technical drawing. His entry into the working world as a draughtsman allowed him to become friends with Fermín Aguayo and Santiago Lagunas, who together with him formed the fundamental nucleus of the Grupo Pórtico. However, after the dissolution of the group in 1951, Giménez Laguardia moved to Madrid, where he lived for six months. Later, in 1952, he took up residence in San Sebastian and abandoned painting, an activity he would not resume until 1975.
His artistic career began in 1946, when he experimented with a pictorial style influenced by expressionism and cubism. However, in 1948 his work evolved towards abstraction, incorporating elements of geometric constructivism without renouncing gestural brushstrokes that conveyed a strong emotional charge. A representative example of this stage is "Rejas" (1950), a work in which the rigid geometric structure and chromatic intensity function as a critique of the social and political context of the post-war period and Franco's regime.
Despite his early participation in the Spanish art scene, his first solo exhibition did not take place until 1992. Throughout his career, Giménez Laguardia left a significant legacy, with works that are part of renowned collections and museums.