MANOLO VALDÉS

Manolo Valdés was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1942. He is one of the few artists who have mastered multiple mediums including drawing, painting, sculpture and printmaking. In each form he is considered highly original, technically sound and constantly provocative. Influenced by historical masterpieces, Valdés creates large works in which lighting and colors express a sensation of tactility. His work is forceful and decorated with historical art symbols. Valdés' expansive multimedia practice riffs on and reinterprets art historical motifs and iconography. Early in his career, the artist co-founded Equipo Cronica. The group embraced a Pop style while denouncing Francisco Franco's regime and considering political power and historical narratives at large. In 1981, the group disbanded. Valdés has made paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures that adopt the idioms of famous artists ranging from Velázquez and Rembrandt to Picasso and Lichtenstein. He briefly studied at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos de Valencia and has exhibited in New York, Paris, Mexico City, Madrid, Geneva, Berlin, and London. In 1999, he represented Spain at the Venice Biennale. Valdés' work has sold for six figures at auction and belongs in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Moderna Museet, the Centre Pompidou, the Museo Reina Sofía, and the Museum of Modern Art. The subject of this work by Valdés is the Infanta Margarita, who is the subject of Velásquez's painting Infanta Margarita Teresa in a Blue Dress, a member of the royal family who appears again in Velásquez's best-known artwork Las Meninas. Each of the four colors on display at the Hötel du Cap is from an edition of eight; however, each sculpture is unique in that the color process varies with each production. The winning bidder will have their choice from the four colors, and may choose to receive one of the four sculptures already completed and currently on display at the Hötel du Cap, or to receive a newly produced sculpture (additional custom production and delivery timing from Madrid would apply). Courtesy of the artist and the Opera Gallery (@manolovaldas)