Joaquín Torres-García (Uruguayan 1874-1949)

We are grateful to the Joaquín Torres-García Archive of Alejandra, Aurelio and Claudio Torres for their assistance cataloguing this work.
We are also grateful to Cecilia de Torres for her assistance cataloguing this work.


In 1943 Torres-García painted a series of seven paintings with figures rendered in a "strong" black line with a monochromatic background. Barcos metafísicos sobre fondo verde is among these works. With all depth of field stripped, the vertical and horizontal lines of the composition recede. In 1938 Torres-García experimented with a similar subject--full shaded shapes and volumes imposed over a light background. Composition from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum collection is an example. This latter work was recently included in the exhibition Abstraction between the Wars, 1919-1939 featuring works by twenty artists including Calder, Picabia and Arp; artists with whom Torres-García collaborated many times throughout his life.

Like a journey, the symbols suggested by Torres-García in Barcos metafísicos sobre fondo verde, float aimlessly in a grey/green sky. They retain the same surreal quality of some of Chagall's works. Recalling dreams, perhaps the reason why Torres originally referred to these works as metaphysical compositions. Formas anímicas (1943), another painting from this series is currently part of the collection of the Miró Foundation in Barcelona.

Nicolás Arocena Armas