Loló Soldevilla

"LOLÓ SOLDEVILLA"; Dolores Soldevilla Nieto (Pinar del Río, Cuba 1901-Havana, 1971).
Untitled, 1956.
Mixed media on canvas.
Signed and dated on the back.
Provenance: Gallery of the Missions, Montevideo.
Measurements: 40 x 56 cm; 45 x 54 cm (frame).
In this work we can appreciate the influence of Geometric Abstraction and kineticism of the European avant-garde, treated from a perspective where the minimal elements are articulated in a dynamic dialogue, in which circles, inclined triangles and diagonal bands function as a demiurgic alphabet. The tension between harmony and imbalance, the stable and the mobile is sought. Loló Soldevilla is considered one of the most relevant figures of Geometric Abstraction and Kineticism, both for her achievements during her career and for her efforts to promote Cuban art inside and outside the borders of her country. He always showed a political involvement through his art, both in his country and abroad, taking an active part in the campaigns to help the Spanish Republic after the outbreak of the Civil War.
His artistic career always stood out for experimentation, not only stylistically but also technically, creating works in different media such as sculpture, engraving and drawing. His artistic career began in 1948, influenced by his friendship with Wifredo Lam, who encouraged and supported him in his beginnings in the world of painting. In 1949 he settled in Paris, where he studied at the Grande Chaumière Academy, making frequent trips and exhibitions in Cuba to show his work. In 1951 she entered the workshop of Dewasne and Pillet, where she remained for two years, and attended a course on engraving techniques by Hayter and Cochet, maintaining and promoting creative exchanges with the School of Paris. Linked to the 26th of July Movement, she was forced to live a clandestine life, since during the pre-revolutionary period she collaborated in Diario de la Marina, Carteles, Información, El País, Avance, Porvenir, Tiempo en Cuba and Survey, as well as in the Parisian publications Combat and Arts. After the revolutionary triumph of 1959 she joined the newspaper Revolución as editor and during the 1960-61 academic year she established herself as professor of plastic arts at the School of Architecture of the University of Havana. From that moment on Dolores Soldevilla combined her artistic career with her teaching work at the University's School of Architecture and at the Granma newspaper. Thanks to her aesthetic approaches, the Grupo Espacio emerged and she was a member of the Diez Pintores Concretos group; she was a member of the UPEC and the UNEAC and collaborated in Bohemia. During his life his work was exhibited in relevant artistic spaces such as the Palace of Fine Arts of Cuba, in Caracas (Venezuela), Paris, in Valencia, Valladolid (Spain), Czechoslovakia, etc, achieving a great recognition of his work at a global level. Today his work is preserved in numerous private collections around the world and in institutions such as the National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba (where the main collection is kept).