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Flash News: Eduardo Arroyo –
Eduardo Arroyo
Eduardo ARROYO (1937-2018) died on 14 October at the age of 81. A journalist and a writer, he also applied his talents to engraving, sculpture, set design and, above all, painting. After exiling himself from Franco’s Spain in 1958, he settled in Paris where he became a major representative of the Narrative Figuration movement and of Spanish Neo-figuration. He he was best known for his large compositions in the form of visual enigmas dealing with exile, political assassinations and the international collusion that served to mask the quasi-fascist reality of Franco’s regime in Spain. The most striking example of this type of work is a large polyptych entitled Four Disemboweled Dictators depicting General Franco alongside Mussolini, Hitler and Salazar. Exhibited during the 3rd Paris Biennale in 1963, the work contributed to the Arroyo’s notoriety despite strong protests from the Spanish government. Ideologically and creatively uncompromising, Arroyo was also critical of his artistic peers as illustrated in his The tragic end of Marcel Duchamp, painted in 1965 with Gilles Aillaud and Antonio Recalcati. In the work, the trio depict themselves as the murderers of the inventor of the ready-made thereby presenting a manifesto of the movement’s pictorial and artistic intentions.
Having criticised the regime in his home country and having sought political refugee status in France (where he remained until after Franco’s death in 1975), Arroyo’s work was recognised in Spain much later than elsewhere. His first solo exhibition in Spain was at Barcelona’s Maeght Gallery) in 1977. Years later, Arroyo received Spain’s National Prize for Fine Arts and the Gold Medal of Merit.
After a period of less ‘political’ creation, with the return of democracy in Spain, Arroyo started to create highly enigmatic compositions such as «A la Tate Gallery José Maria Blanco White est surveillé…» (1979). Although not his most dissenting or critical work, the painting set the artist’s current auction record when it was acquired for $150,000 at Sotheby’s London in 2003…
Clearly, demand for Narrative Figuration is still highly selective with Valerio ADAMI (1935) and Peter KLASEN (1935) enjoying the bulk of the interest. However, with with two of its major ambassadors (Arroyo and Jacques Monory) leaving us this past fortnight, tributes will no doubt multiply and highlight their talents.
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