Agustín Cárdenas Alfonso

AGUSTÍN CÁRDENAS ALFONSO (Cuba, 1927 - 2001).
"Narcissus", 1989.
Bronze. Exemplary P/A.
Attached certificate of authenticity issued by the Durban Gallery (Caracas, Venezuela).
It has the seal of the foundry.
Signed and justified.
Measurements: 88 x 53 x 37 cm.
The figure of Narcissus has been recurrent in the work of Cardenas, as well demonstrated by other works titled with the same name. An example of this is a very similar work made in Belgian marble, which came up for auction at Sotheby's in November 2015. The organic and biform lines come together in this work, thus stimulating the viewer's sight, who finds himself in the presence of a material of great resistance, which has been treated by the artist with great mastery. The result is a suggestive and attractive piece, which is defined by the multiple facets, or views that it offers to the spectator. Which force to go around the entire perimeter of the work, to be able to conceive it in its entirety, thus exercising the active participation of the one who contemplates the work.
A painter and sculptor, Cárdenas studied at the San Alejandro National School of Fine Arts in Havana between 1943 and 1949. He was a member of the Association of Cuban Engravers (1951-55) and the group Los Once (1953-55). In 1955 he obtained a scholarship to study in Paris, the city where his most creative period took place, consolidating him as an international figure. In 1957 he joined the Parisian surrealist movement, and in 1965 he was awarded the Paris Biennial prize. As a sculptor, his work is divided into three stages, defined by the material used in each one of them: wood first, then marble, granite and basalt, and finally bronze. His painting is closely related to his sculptural work, also presenting dynamic bodies that appear to be in constant change, with fluid and synthesized forms. Cárdenas exhibited his work both in Cuba and in the United States, France, Italy and South Korea, and participated in multiple group exhibitions, such as the Tokyo International Biennial in 1965. His awards include the Cuban National Plastic Arts Award (1955), although he has also been awarded several medals in Cuban fine arts salons, and in 1976 he won the Fujisankey Biennial Award (Japan) and was named Knight of the National Order of Arts and Letters of France. Cardenas is represented at the CNAC in Paris, the Hakone Art Museum (Japan), the National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba, the Museums of Contemporary Art of Algiers and Montreal, the Museum of Modern Art of Tel Aviv and the Museum of Fine Arts of Caracas.