Eduardo Chillida Lurra G-61 Terracotta. Höhe ca. 23,5 cm. Mit Künstlersignum. Die Arbeit ist im Archiv des Museo Chillida-Leku, Hernani, unter der Nummer 1985.023 registriert. Provenienz Galerie Maeght Lelong, Zürich; Privatsammlung, Schweiz; Privatsammlung, Frankreich Ausstellungen Zürich 1985/1986 (Galerie Maeght Lelong), Eduardo Chillida, Sculptures de Terre, Ausst.Kat. S.18, Nr.23 mit Farbabb. Eduardo Chillidas Skulpturen reflektieren den intensiven Umgang des Künstlers mit dem Lebensraum des Menschen. In charakteristischer Weise zeugen davon seine Terrakotta-Arbeiten, bei denen der natürliche Bezugspunkt durch das Ausgangsmaterial gegeben erscheint, was auch der Titel „Lurra“ (Lurra bedeutet auf Baskisch Erde) versinnbildlicht. Eine exponierte Position in dieser Skulpturenreihe bilden die Lurra-Arbeiten, die mit ihren verschlungenen Tentakeln den Raum umschließen. Nur vereinzelt kreiert Chillida diese Werke, in denen er aus dem höchst diffizil zu bearbeitenden Material, eine intime und feingliedrige Komposition formt. “Terracotta, another material as spurious as concrete for a sculpture of iron, has also intrigued him for several occasions. He first used it in his youth and returned to it at the beginning of the Seventies when he was frequenting with increasing assiduity the village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. […] Here he learned the technique of firing and the use of terre chamotte, which has a high content of iron oxide. This hostile powdery substance, which is so difficult to work, which is coarse and porous when fired, and yet so compact that it resembles stone, fascinated him at length. In terms of their formal aspect, the works made from disagreeable monochromatic material (whose colour recalls burnt sienna ochre) corresponded to the technical procedure that generated them: severe, compact and finished. The artist carves his furrows in the block as if they were hieroglyphics, mysterious messages from mother earth. And he called them Earth (Lurra in Basque), more in a sensitive reference to the matrix the word refers to than materially to the clay that their point of departure.(Fabbri Editori, Eduardo Chillida, in: Simonetta Rasponi (Hg.), Omaggio a Eduardo Chillida, Ausst.Kat. XLIV Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte la Biennale di Venezia, Mailand 1990, S.25) Eduardo Chillida Lurra G-61 Terracotta. Height approx. 23.5 cm. With artist's signum. The work is registered under the number 1985.023 in the archive of Museo Chillida-Leku, Hernani. Provenance Galerie Maeght Lelong, Zurich; private collection, Switzerland; private collection, France Exhibitions Zurich 1985/1986 (Galerie Maeght Lelong), Eduardo Chillida, Sculptures de Terre, exhib.cat. p.18, no.23 with colour illus. Eduardo Chillida's sculptures reflect the artist's intensive dealings with the human habitat. His terracotta works, the natural reference point seeming to be a given due to the primary material, also epitomised by the title Lurra (Lurra means earth in Basque), characteristically symbolise this. The Lurra works assume an exposed position in this series of sculptures that encompass the space with their entwined tentacles. These works were only produced sporadically, whereby Chillida forms intimate and delicate compositions out of the highly exacting material. “Terracotta, another material as spurious as concrete for a sculpture of iron, has also intrigued him for several occasions. He first used it in his youth and returned to it at the beginning of the Seventies when he was frequenting with increasing assiduity the village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. […] Here he learned the technique of firing and the use of terre chamotte, which has a high content of iron oxide. This hostile powdery substance, which is so difficult to work, which is coarse and porous when fired, and yet so compact that it resembles stone, fascinated him at length. In terms of their formal aspect, the works made from disagreeable monochromatic material (whose colour recalls burnt sienna ochre) corresponded to the technical procedure that generated them: severe, compact and finished. The artist carves his furrows in the block as if they were hieroglyphics, mysterious messages from mother earth. And he called them Earth (Lurra in Basque), more in a sensitive reference to the matrix the word refers to than materially to the clay that their point of departure. (Fabbri Editori, Eduardo Chillida, in: Simonetta Rasponi (ed.), Omaggio a Eduardo Chillida, exhib.cat XLIV Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte la Biennale di Venezia, Mailand 1990, p.25)