Urbano Lugrís González

URBANO LUGRÍS GONZALEZ (La Coruña, 1908 -Vigo, 1973).
"Surrealist still life with shells", ca. 1947.
Oil on board.
Signed.
Measurements: 65 x 59 cm.

This painting by Urbano Lugrís presents a dreamlike and maritime scene that encapsulates his unique pictorial universe, where reality and fantasy intertwine with an air of nostalgia and symbolism. Instead of a traditional bouquet of flowers, a white vase becomes the receptacle of an exuberant and impossible marine ecosystem: sinuous algae, corals, mollusks of diverse textures and starfish that seem to float in a state of weightlessness on a black background that enhances the beauty of their shapes and colors. Some of these creatures are imaginary, as if they had emerged from an oceanic dream or a sailor's fable. The vase is decorated with its medallion, which holds the image of a ship on the waters. This detail reinforces the constant reference to the sea in Lugrís' work, both as a physical space of exploration and adventure and as a mythical territory loaded with symbolism. On the circular tabletop rests a cup, more scattered mollusks and a compass, suggesting that the scene is not just a still life, but a metaphor for travel and time. The circle, present both on the table and in the vase's medallion, reinforces the idea of the cyclical, of the eternal return of the sea and its stories. Lugrís is part of a current of magical and evocative surrealism, with a meticulous detail reminiscent of the Flemish primitives, but with a deeply personal dreamlike sensibility.

Urbano Lugris began his artistic training under the influence of Nacho Viéitez, a man whose purpose was to encourage the practice of painting in the new generations. He abandoned his studies as a mercantile expert in La Coruña to move to Madrid in 1930, where he joined the Pedagogical Missions, with which he toured several Spanish cities designing costumes and sets for the theater La Barraca. During this period he met Federico García Lorca and Rafael Alberti. During the civil war he participated as a volunteer in the Republican army, going to the front of Asturias. After the end of the war in 1954 he founded in La Coruña the magazine Atlántida, with his friends Mariano Tudela and José Mª de Labra, in which he actively participated, writing articles and poems, as well as numerous illustrations and designing the front cover. In 1965 he moved to Vigo where he died on December 23, 1973. In 1997 the largest exhibition dedicated to Urbano Lugrís, curated by Rosario Sarmiento and Antón Patiño, was held at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid and at the Auditorio de Galicia in Santiago de Compostela. On the occasion of this exhibition, an important book-catalog of the exhibition was published, as well as a facsimile of the magazine Atlántida. In 2007 the book by Antón Patiño Urbano Lugrís, "Viaje al corazón del océano" (Journey to the heart of the ocean) was published. Lugrís was an almost self-taught painter whose pictorial work reflects a predilection for marine themes, portrayed with an atmosphere of dreamlike and idealized character. His pictures are almost always painted on board in small and medium formats. He was influenced by his godfather, the writer Francisco Tettamancy y Gastón and by concepts of Italian metaphysical painting, especially Carrá and Chirico, and French surrealism, the paintings of Tanguy and Magritte. Some authors wanted to relate him to Dalí, based on the use of blue as the main color in his paintings, but this detail is not taken from the Catalan, but from Platinir.