Luis Claramunt (1951-2000) - Claramunt. Galería Dau al Set, abril 1976

Luis Claramunt ( Barcelona, 1951 - Zarautz, 2000). Original 1976 linocut, printed in black, which served as the poster for his solo exhibition at Galeria Dau al Set in Barcelona in April of that year. Signed in pencil “L. Claramunt” bottom right and numbered 27/50 bottom left.

Technique: linocut, printed in black from the carved linoleum block, with the irregular edges typical of the carving. Sheet is 76 x 56 cm.

A nocturnal city seen from below: facades with arcades and balconies, twisting towers, a waning moon and figures hanging from a cornice at the top. The white of the paper draws everything the black leaves free. In the lower half, carved in the block itself, the inscription: “Claramunt / Abril 1976 / Dau al Set / Galeria d'Art / C. Consell de Cent 333”. The three threes of the address came out backwards, like three letter E's, because Claramunt carved them in the linoleum without reversing them.

Claramunt was self-taught. He soon left studies of Philosophy and Letters, settled in Plaça Reial in Barcelona and painted the city of the margins, with an acknowledged debt to Isidre Nonell. In 1984 he moved to Madrid and later to Seville, with long stays in Marrakech. He exhibited with Juana de Aizpuru, participated in Art Basel between 1985 and 1989 and in ARCO between 1984 and 2003. The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla dedicated an exhibition to him in 1986 and the MACBA another in 2012. This print is from his early years, when he still lived in Barcelona.

Condition: good. Deep and uniform black, clean margins. Light handling marks on the upper margin [VERIFY].

Provenance: private collection, Madrid.