Pilar Belmonte (1952) - Figure assise

Pilar Belmonte Useros (Albacete, 1952)

Sitting Figure
Acrylic on paper

Interesting original work by the Spanish artist Pilar Belmonte Useros (Albacete, 1952), made in acrylic on paper and signed in the lower right corner.

The composition represents a seated male figure, constructed through marked figurative and geometric simplification. The character is articulated from clearly delimited chromatic surfaces, almost disregarding facial features and accompanying narrative elements. The reduction of the forms allows the true protagonism to fall on the relationship between figure, space and color.

The work presents a particularly characteristic palette, dominated by blues and cool tones that contrast with the magenta horizontal bands and the dark areas. The background is organized through large fields of color superimposed to generate depth without relying on traditional perspective. The result sits within contemporary figurative painting of a synthetic and geometric tendency, close in some aspects to the graphic language and to color field, while keeping the human figure perfectly recognizable.

This emphasis on color is particularly significant within Pilar Belmonte’s career. The artist herself has pointed to light and color as fundamental elements of her pictorial research, while the Museu d'Art Contemporani Vicente Aguilera Cerni also highlights both elements as essential axes of her production.

About the artist

Pilar Belmonte Useros was born in Albacete in 1952 and has lived in Valencia since 1968. She began her training at the San Carlos Superior School of Fine Arts in Valencia and later developed a solid academic and international career. She holds a PhD in Fine Arts from the Complutense University of Madrid, obtained a Fulbright/Banco de Bilbao scholarship to study for two years in the United States, and earned a Master of Arts from New York University in 1981.

Her exhibiting career began in 1971 and has continued for more than five decades, with more than a hundred exhibitions and appearances in cities such as Madrid, Valencia, Bilbao, London, New York, Paris, Venice and other European and American localities. In 2014 an anthological exhibition dedicated to approximately fifty years of her production was organized.

Her artistic research has traversed different languages and procedures: oil, acrylic, crayons, collage, screen printing, mixed media, installations and contemporary stained glass. During the seventies she mainly started from figuration —landscape, the human figure and objects— and progressively simplified and abstracted the forms. Her stay in New York between the late seventies and early eighties proved particularly important in this evolution.

Since the nineties she has also developed significant activity related to light, color and architecture through contemporary stained glass projects, collaborating, among others, with German specialized studios. Thus her trajectory combines painting creation, chromatic research, teaching and artistic projects linked to architectural space.

Condition report

The work is in good general conservation condition, considering its nature and age. It is framed and protected behind glass.

The glass shows dirt and signs from the passage of time, so a cleaning would be advisable to improve the presentation and appreciation of the work.

The frame shows signs of use and may present rubs, small losses, bumps or other imperfections typical of its age. The frame is included free of charge as a complement to the work and is not part of its valuation, so any possible damage to it will not be a ground for claim.

The exact condition of the work, glass and frame can be seen in detail in the photographs that form part of the description.