Modest Cuixart i Tàpies (Barcelona, 1925 - Palamós, 2007) 'Monotypes' Folder with four monotypes enriched with Indian ink. Folder dimensions: 37 x 25,5 cm. Sheet: 35 x 24,5 cm. Imprint: 15,5 x 12 cm, 15,5 x 18 cm, 16 x 12 cm. (2)   Modest Cuixart was an important painter of the Catalan avant-garde in the second half of the 20th century. The Modest Cuixart Foundation divides his artistic career into four stages, which we will summarize here. The first is marked by the founding of the avant-garde group “Dau al Set” in 1948, together with Joan Brossa, Joan Ponç, Arnau Puig, Antoni Tàpies, his cousin, and Joan-Josep Tharrats, which, as the MACBA states, “in the midst of Franco's regime, promoted pictorial modernity by focusing on a magical and mysterious dimension of reality.” “In these years, we find works created using a wide variety of techniques, from ink drawings to gouaches and oil paintings of abstract compositions ranging from geometric automatism to the combination of symbolic elements, figures, stars, and signs forming enigmatic landscapes and magical cosmologies,” explains the painter's foundation. Our drawing, published by Dau al Set, is part of this fertile first stage.   From 1956 onwards, we entered the second stage, with visits to Lyon and Paris, characterized by informalism and experimentation with materials and objects, which involved damaging the medium with burns and incisions and, later on, by a “deepening and reflection on the expressive capacities of the material, which crystallized in magnificent discoveries that elevated him to the pinnacle of success and international recognition,” as he won the International Grand Prize for Painting at the 5th São Paulo Biennial in 1959 and exhibited in 1960 at the Tate Gallery in London and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. During this same period, he addressed sexual themes explicitly, using the technique of relief in an aggressive manner and creating works with a highly tragic and dramatic component.   With Cuixart always at the forefront and with a constant drive for artistic experimentation and innovation, characteristics of the visual artist's career, he began to introduce the figure in 1965. In the period that the Foundation calls “Figure: obsession and delirium,” Cuixart explored “distorted faces and bodies with implausible proportions that, despite their monstrosity, often possess a disturbing and strange beauty,” always with a sinister, pathetic, and grotesque undertone.  Finally, from 1989 onwards, at the height of his maturity, he returned to nature as his main source of inspiration and introspection, delving into the “deep and mythical spirit of nature, the mystery of the forests, and the magical and silent lyricism of the fertility of the earth.” His work can be found in numerous Spanish and international museums and collections, including the MACBA, the Reina Sofía Museum, the MoMA in New York, and the Tate Modern in London.   Reference bibliography: - Fundació Modest Cuixart. (s.f.). 'La obra de Cuixart en 4 etapas'. https://www.fundaciocuixart.com/es/trayectoria-artistica-es/ - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Barcelona. (s.f.). 'Modest Cuixart'. https://www.macba.cat/es/actor/modest-cuixart/