PEDRO CORONEL | El Cántar de oro

Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City
Private Collection, California (acquired from the above in 1964)
Thence by descent 

This work seems to be unlined on its original stretcher. The very heavy and textured paint layer is in beautiful condition. There is no instability or cracking except for two small paint losses roughly in the center of the large green globe. The rest of the work seems to be stable. The paint layer is clean. Although there are glossy patches to the surface, these are original to the artist and the work is not varnished. The work could be hung as is. (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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Mexican artist Pedro Coronel (1922-1985) began his career as a student of famed muralist Diego Rivera before moving to Paris in 1946, where he studied with Victor Brauner and Constantin Brancusi, synthesizing their lessons in form, line and abstract composition with the painting techniques and rich visual vocabulary of Mexican Muralism and pre-Columbian art. This painting, from 1964, belongs to a critical era of his production; by the 1960s Coronel had begun to create the signature highly textured, richly colored abstract compositions for which he is now best known. During this period he traveled often between Paris and Mexico City, working alongside artists including Mathias Goeritz, Sonia Delaunay and Rufino Tamayo. Coronel became part of a new generation of Mexican abstract painters known as Generación La Ruptura (The Rupture Generation), who broke from the political, representational tradition of Muralism to embrace the universalism and focus on color and texture espoused by Abstract Expressionism. The present work embodies Coronel’s aesthetic language, in which he harmonizes geometric forms inspired by pre-Columbian sculpture and architecture with dynamic colors and textures drawn from the diverse Mexican landscape, contributing to and expanding upon the vocabulary and techniques of 20^th-Century Abstraction.