Composition V

 

Manuel Bea Cervera

  1934 - 1997 (biography)

1970  

color lithograph 

17 1/4 x 23 3/4" image 

pencil signed, lower right 

50 of 50  

dated above the signature in lower right; inscribed in unknown hand on verso: Composition V / 70 

 

ivory wove with v. Piera watermark 

published 

Hoeppner (?) 

6769 

$500.00 

While he referred to himself as an Abstract Figurative artist in the 1960s and 1970s, Manuel Bea - as he was often known - was also influenced by the European Surrealists he met when he studied in Switzerland in 1958.

Here, Bea uses subtle tonality and neutral hues for the majority of the composition, with only the smalled traces of bright indigo and red to suggest illumination. The central figure, made more human by the addition of an "eye" at the center, is draped in shadow made transluscent with the use of overlapping, semi-transparent inks. Within each field of color Bea has added a variety of textures to suggest depth and light. Is this figure one of importance, giving a speech to a congregation? Or is this simply the rendering of a dream?

The Catalan printmaker, painter, collage and assemblage artist frequently used found materials to create desired textures. While the flat plane of lithography may have inhibited his ability to create three dimensionality, it's clear that he strove for the illusion of it in "Composition V."