Joaquín Torres-García (1874-1949)

oil on canvas

Dr. Franconi, Buenos Aires
Private Collection, Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires, Galería Müller, 1942, n.n.
Buenos Aires, Instituto de Arte Moderno, Joaquín Torres-García: Pinturas, April, 1951, p. 16, no. 31, illustrated
Buenos Aires, Galería Palatina, Joaquín Torres-García (1874-1949), May, 1987, no. 2

This painting is in good condition. The tacking edges of the canvas have been reinforced, but the canvas itself is not lined. The paint layer is stable and the picture should be hung as is. Under ultraviolet light the retouches show a very bright green fluorescent color which is clearly visible running down the left edge and in a few isolated spots within the composition itself. Some of this restoration, particularly on the edge, may be necessary although it is a little sloppy and could be improved. Some of the other restorations may be misguided and unnecessary. So while the picture could be hung in its current state, the conservation could most likely be improved. (This condition report has been provided courtesy of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.)
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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The year 1928, marked an extremely prolific time in the artistic career of the Uruguayan master Joaquín Torres-García, a period of intense explorations that would ultimately contribute to the evolution of his mature style. The importance of Puerto de Marsella (a harbor the artist may have traveled through while he was living in the south of France prior to moving to Paris in 1926) resides in the way in which the artist synthesized the complex reality of the elements of the landscape while simultaneously conveying its energy and vibration with a steady, yet rhythmic graphic quality.

 

Guillermo de la Torre, author of the 1951 exhibition catalogue where this work was first illustrated, writes that Torres-García was "an indefatigable explorer paralleled only by Picasso." In the context of his production of 1928, this groundbreaking work stands as a symbol of the artist's intense search, one that foreshadows his future renewal of the pictorial language of modernism.

 

Cecilia de Torres