Beschreibung:

CUBAN Julio Larraz E Pluribus Unum 2003 oil on canvas 39 3/8 x 51 1/8 in. (100 x 129.9 cm) Signed "Larraz" lower right. Also titled "E Pluribus Unum" on the reverse.
Provenance Marlborough Gallery, New York Private Collection Catalogue Essay Julio Larraz is widely regarded as one of the masters of contemporary realism. His skillful handling of paint and brush yields stunning compositions charged with vibrant color and complex formal relationships. They are often mysterious and conceptually puzzling in nature, prompting his viewers to actively decipher their hidden meanings and allusions. As the son of a newspaper publisher, Larraz has always been deeply interested in the machinations of human affairs. After moving to New York City in 1964, he began to draw political cartoons that were reproduced in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Vogue, among many other leading publications. Larraz’s early professional accomplishments shed light on his talent for representation and suggestion, mechanisms that have come to define his successful career as a painter. An important aspect of Larraz’s work deals with the subtle ironies caused by particular social, cultural, and political relationships. The present lot exemplifies the artist’s penchant for simultaneously illuminating and obscuring a social situation, imbuing it with a mystifying narrative that we are eager to decode. As we look at the woman in hopes of recognition, we are confronted with titillating shadows that hide part of her face, thereby rendering her identity a secret. Instead, Larraz’s mastery of light and color draw our attention to the woman’s luxurious jewels and elaborate dress, which, along with her town car setting, become the attributes that truly define her. We are gazing at a woman of high social standing and great financial power, whose inability to relate to those outside her position renders her distant and unrecognizable. Larraz’s coup de grâce presents itself in the work’s title—E Pluribus Unum, Latin for “out of many, one”—the longstanding motto that has come to define democracy, equality, and social inclusivity. Through his pictorial dexterity and thematic implications, Larraz encourages us to probe into the complexities of our social contexts, becoming critical thinkers in a multifaceted and contradictory human reality. Read More