Constructivism in Relief
Taller Torres García
September 17 – October 24, 2009
JOAQUÍN TORRES-GARCÍA (b. 1874-1949, Uruguay)
When Torres-García arrived in Montevideo on April 30, 1934 after forty-three years of absence, Torres-García told the press that he had returned to his native country of Uruguay in order to "develop a wide range of activities, to lecture, to teach courses, to achieve... on walls what I have already achieved on canvas,... to create in Montevideo a movement that will surpass the art of Paris." These lofty ambitions were achieved through the creation of his world famous workshop, the Taller Torres-García, where he taught his theory of Universal Constructivism to future generations of Latin American artists.
Before returning to Uruguay, Torres-García arrived at the concept of Universal Constructivism after a long development during which his painting evolved from Mediterranean classicism through periods of Vibrationism, Cubism, and Fauvism. A truly global artist, Torres-García lived in Spain, New York, Italy, and Paris, where his theories and aesthetic style culminated into his characteristic incorporation of symbols located in a geometric grid based on the golden section.
The uniqueness of Torres' proposal consisted of his incorporation of essential elements of indigenous American art into the basic principles of European constructivism and geometric abstraction. Today, he is recognized as a canonical figure in both Latin American and modern art in general, with works in prestigious public and private collections worldwide.
2018 | The Worlds of Joaquín Torres-García - Acquavella Galleries, Inc., New York City, NY |
2016 | Joaquín Torres-García: The Arcadian Modern - Museo Picasso Málaga, Málaga |
| Joaquín Torres-García: The Arcadian Modern - Museo Picasso Málaga, Málaga |
| Joaquín Torres-García - Galerìa Guillermo de Osma, Madrid |
2015 | Joaquín Torres-García: The Arcadian Modern, MoMA, New York |
| Joaquín Torres-García, Sala Dalmau, Barcelona, Spain |
| Joaquín Torres-García, Gary Nader Gallery, New York |
| Looking South, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, Texas |
2011 | Torres García: Geometría, creación, proporción, Fundación Iberé Camargo, Porto Alegre, Brazil |
| Torres-García: Utopía y Tradición, Museo de la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Torres-García at his Crossroads, Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), Barcelona, Spain |
2010 | Trazos de New York, Museo Torres García, Montevideo, Uruguay; Caixa de Río de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
2009 | Joaquín Torres-García: Constructing Abstraction with Wood, The Menil Collection, Houston, Texas |
2008 | Darrere la màscara constructiva, Centre Cultural de Caixa Girona-Fontana D'Or, Girona, Spain |
2007 | Joaquín Torres-García: Una Vida en Papel, Museu Valencia de la Illustracio i de la Modernitat-MuVIM, Valencia, Spain; Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Madrid, Spain |
2006 | Torres-Garcia: Selected Works, Jan Krugier Gallery, New York |
2005 | Universalismo Constructivo, Museo Torres García, Montevideo, Uruguay; Fundación Antonio Saura, Cuenca, Spain; Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Instituto Tomie Othakie, San Pablo, Brazil; Museo Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brazil; Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Caixa de Girona, Caixa de Murcia, Museo de Mataró, Spain |
| ALADDIN. Juguetes transformables, Museo Torres García, Montevideo, Uruguay; Fundación Bank Boston, Santiago, Chile; Museu Oscar Niemeyer, Curitiba, Brasil; MALBA, Buenos Aires. Argentina 2003 Museu Picasso, Barcelona |
2002 | Musée de Strasbourg, France Fundación ICO, Madrid |
1997 | IVAM Centre Julio González, Valencia |
| La Pedrera, Barcelona |
| Fundación BANCAJA, Madrid |
| Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas |
1996 | Fundaçao Arpad Szenés-Vieira da Silva, Lisbon Museo Pontevedra, Spain |
1994 | XXII São Paulo International Bienal, Sala Torres-García |
1991 | Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid IVAM Centre Julio González, Valencia |
1985 | Hayward Gallery, Barbican Centre, London |
| Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona |
| Stadtische Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf |
| Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
| Miami Center for the Arts, Florida |
1981 | Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City |
1980 | Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela |
1978 | Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro (exhibition destroyed in a fire) |
1975 | Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris |
1973 | Museu d'Art Modern, Barcelona |
| Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid |
1971 | Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas, Austin |
1970 | Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York |
| National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa |
| Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island |
1961 | Pan American Union, Washington, D.C. |
| San Francisco Museum of Art |
| Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam |
| Städtische Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden |
1960 | Rose Fried Gallery, New York |
1959 | V Bienal de São Paulo: Sala Torres-García, São Paulo |
1956 | XXVIII Biennale de Venezia: Sala Torres-García, Palazzo Centrale, Venice |
1955 | Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris |
1950 | Sidney Janis Gallery, New York |
| Galerias Laietaines, Barcelona |
1933 | Museo de Arte Moderno, Madrid |
1929 | Galerie Jeanne Boucher, Paris |
| Galerie Percier, Paris |
| Galerie Jean Charpentier, Paris |
1928 | Galerie Zack, Paris |
1927 | Galerie Carmine, Paris |
1926 | Galerie G. A. Fabre, Paris |
1922 | Gallery Hanfstaengel, New York |
1912 | Galeries Dalmau, Barcelona |
1900 | Sálo de "La Vanguardia," Barcelona |
Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (MNBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museu de Arte Moderna Rio de Janeiro (MAM) , Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Museu de Arte de São Paulo Assis Chateaubriand (MASP), São Paulo, Brazil
Museo Botero, Bogota, Colombia
Museo de Arte del Banco de la República, Bogota, Colombia
Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain (MAMCS), Strasbourg, France
LaM - Lille Métropole musée d'art moderne, d'art contemporain et d'art brut, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Museo Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico
Berardo Museum, Lisbon, Portugal
Fundación Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain
Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), Barcelona, Spain
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya (MNAC), Barcelona, Spain
Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid, Spain
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
Fundación Telefónica, Madrid, Spain
Patio Herreriano - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Español, Valladolid, Spain
Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland
Georgia Museum of Art, Athens, GA, USA
Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX, USA
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, USA
Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainesville, FL, USA
Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH), Houston, TX, USA
Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, CA, USA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA, USA
CIFO - Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, FL, USA
Perez Art Museum Miami - PAMM, Miami, FL, USA
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA
The RISD Museum - University of Rhode Island, Providence, RI, USA
San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, TX, USA
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), San Francisco, CA, USA
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Art Museum of the Americas (AMA), Washington, DC, USA
Museo Blanes, Montevideo, Uruguay
Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales (MNAV), Montevideo, Uruguay
Museo Torres García, Montevideo, Uruguay
