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Untitled – 04/178
Mieg, Juan
Vitoria-Gasteiz, 19/08/1938
Mixed media on board
91.9 x 183.5 cm
MIEG (bottom right hand corner), JUAN MIEG (on the reverse)
1966
Third quarter of the 20th century
04/178
Donated by the artist in 2004
Untitled from 1966 is a collage of waste materials, probably inspired by the experiments made by Catalonian artists like Tàpies and Cuixart, and also by the American New Dadaists, principally Rauschenberg, who at that time dominated the leading-edge international art scene. The work conveys a dramatic sensation of destruction, as if the objects he has distributed were the vestiges of some painful existential desolation. However, Mieg rapidly became enthusiastic about painting using traditional media. Indeed, the background of the painting looks forward to his subsequent work, his lyrical colours, forms and line. [Javier Viar]
Selected bibliography
- Guía Artistas Vascos. Bilbao, Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2008. pp. 152-153.
- Gida Euskal Artistak. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Eder Museoa, 2008. p. 152.
- Guide Basque Artists. Bilbao, Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, 2012. pp. 152-153, n° cat. 84a.
- Viar, Javier. Historia del arte vasco : de la Guerra Civil a nuestros días, 1936-2016. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2017. p. 210, il.
- Después del 68 : arte y prácticas artísticas en el País Vasco, 1968-2018 [Cat. exp.]. Bilbao, Bilboko Arte Ederren Museoa-Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 2018. p. 441, il.