Luis Feito

LUIS FEITO LÓPEZ (Madrid, 1929 - 2021).
"809", 1970.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in the lower left corner.
Certificate of authenticity of Antonio Cátedra is attached.
Measurements: 63 x 79 cm. 65,5 x 81,5 cm. (frame).

This painting of 1970 occupies a prominent place in the production of Feijo's maturity, when his proposals move away from informalism and enter a minimalist search that reaches a high degree of formal and conceptual purification. The gestuality of his early works gives way to a symbolic and plastic exploration of color, form and matter. If in the 50's and early 60's dense impasto and earthy tones predominated, influenced by Tàpies or Dubuffet, in the 70's his palette becomes more reduced and contrasted, with white, black and red as protagonists, although he also introduces yellow and lilac in compositions where forms acquire greater clarity and visual tension. The yellow circle (which reminds us of the solar disk) could be interpreted as a synthesis of his search for balance between matter and form. Its presence on the black background generates a dialogue of light and shadow, while the lilac fragment introduces an unexpected chromatic counterpoint, bringing a vibrant hue to the composition. This type of elements are characteristic of his production at the time, where he begins to develop a geometric and essentialist abstraction.

Born and trained in Madrid, he was one of the founding members of the El Paso group. In 1954 he had his first individual exhibition, with non-figurative works, at the Buchholz gallery in Madrid. From that moment on Feito exhibited regularly in the most important cities of the world, such as Paris, Milan, New York, Helsinki, Tokyo and Rome. Appointed professor at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in 1954, two years later he left teaching and went to Paris on a scholarship to study the current avant-garde movements. During this period he was influenced by automatism and matter painting. In 1962 he became a founding member of the El Paso group, with which he had lost contact during his years in Paris. His first works are inscribed within figurative painting, to then go through a phase in which he experiments with cubism, and finally fully enter into abstraction. At the beginning he only used black, ochre and white colors, but when he discovered the potential of light, he began to use more vivid colors and smooth planes. He evolved to use red as a counterpoint in his compositions (since 1962) and, in general, more intense colors. In his abstract phase, which includes the 1970s, Feito shows a clear tendency towards simplification, with the circle predominating in his compositions as a geometric form. Possibly, the influence of Japanese art can be seen in his preference for large bands of black. Most of his works are untitled, so they are usually recognized by a number assigned to them. Among his awards is his appointment as Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters of France in 1985. In 1998 he received the Gold Medal of Fine Arts in Madrid, and was appointed Full Member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. In 2000 he was awarded the Prize of the Spanish Association of Art Critics at the Estampa Salon, in 2002 the AECA Grand Prize for the best international artist at ARCO, in 2003 the prize for the most relevant artist at the Osaka Art Fair (Japan), in 2004 the Prize for the Culture of Plastic Arts of the Community of Madrid, in 2005 the Francisco Tomás Prieto Prize of the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, and in 2008 the Jorge Alió Foundation Prize and the Grand Prize for Spanish Contemporary Art CESMAI. Luis Feito is represented in the most important museums around the world, including the Gallery of Modern Art in Rome, the Guggenheim, the MoMA and the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, the Museums of Modern Art in Tokyo, Paris, Rio de Janeiro and Montreal, the Lissone in Italy, among others.