Antonio de Andrés-Gáyon (1961-2012) - Beine

Antonio de Andrés-Gáyon (1961-2012), Beine, 2009.

Acrylic on hardboard, 78 x 40 cm. Verso with wall mounting and numbering.

Provenance: From the artist's estate, Berlin.

Condition: Good, age-appropriate condition. Illustrations are part of the condition description.

For the exhibition of the paintings "Beine" (legs), the following text by the artist was created in 2009:

Antonio de Andrés-Gayón; Munich, May 26, 2009
This exhibition is a fragment. It does not intend to encompass a totality of my work, just as the theme “Legs of Women” does not represent the entire woman. Here I certainly do not want to say that a woman consists only of legs.

It is clear that a part is not the whole, but the whole can be cited; I come to the description of the work: Because the woman eternally lures, because to draw legs of women, because to paint legs of women is very difficult. These are the reasons I present you with women's legs.
Without any help (slides, projector, etc.) I draw from a live model. A woman stands before me in this pose. After sketching with pencil, I paint the oil paints directly onto the board with brushes. The following difficulties must be mastered:

The woman must stand credibly, bear her weight on her feet, not float somewhere. In the empty space of the painting she carries her weight with her legs; that must be clear.
The proportions of the limbs, the length vs. the width of thighs, shins and feet, the toes. Eternal variations on a constant theme. Depending on person, light and pose, everything is always new and different.
What color is the skin? Whether in shadow, in light, reflections, tension... from green, black, blue, yellow, red. Always the entire rainbow is present in the painting, only where and how much of the hue?

I want to ask you, the viewer: Do my legs live? Ultimately, the guest does not have to be a cook to enjoy the meal. Nevertheless, it greatly enhances the pleasure: the education.

Biography
Antonio de Andrés-Gayón (1961–2012) was a Spanish sculptor and painter who was born in Madrid and studied from 1985 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. From his third semester on he was a Meisterschüler (master student) of Olaf Metzel. After studios in Munich, Cologne and Hamburg, he lived and worked in Berlin since 2000.
The human figure was at the center of his artistic work. Whether drawing, painting or sculpture—Antonio de Andrés-Gayón explored the expressiveness of the body with exceptional precision and artisanal consistency. His works deal with proportion, movement, and the relationship between humans and space. The artist stated his artistic claim in his own words: “My concept is quality.”
His figurative works combine classical sculpture and academic drawing with a contemporary visual language. In particular, his depictions of the human body are characterized by an intensive engagement with form, anatomy, and expression. Today, works by Antonio de Andrés-Gayón are represented on the international art market and are regularly traded through galleries and auctions.