Gouache, watercolor, and pencil on paper on board
Not on view
Rafael Barradas completed this portrait of his friend Joaquín Torres-García in 1918, a year after the two Uruguay-born artists met in Barcelona. Inspired by their impressions of the city and their encounters with Futurism, Cubism, and Orphism, Barradas and Torres-García began experimenting with new approaches to line, form, color, and space. Barradas coined the term “Vibracionismo” (“Vibrationism” in Spanish) to describe their vivid, boldly patterned works, among them the portrait of Torres-García. Rather than a realistic portrayal of the older artist, Barradas conveys his multifaceted personality through repeating geometric planes in contrasting hues. “Ours!” Torres-García later wrote of the vibrant style that he and Barradas developed together in 1917 and 1918. “Something identical and very different at the same time.”
2026
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Portrait
A representation of a particular individual, usually intended to capture their likeness or personality.
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