Issue date: 13 Jul, 2015
CONTEMPORARY ART
The sculptor Eduardo Chillida takes centre stage in the Contemporary Art series consisting of a miniature sheet. The stamp features a reproduction of “Gravitaciones” (1986), which forms part of a series of artwork of the same name that includes individual paper fragments joined together with string or pins. As the fragments are separate they move and let air flow between them, rotating with the resulting gravity.
Eduardo Chillida (San Sebastián, 1924-2002) is considered one of the best Spanish sculptors of the second half of the 20th century. When he was 19 years old he began studying architecture in Madrid, but subsequently put his studies aside to dedicate himself to the world of art. The rules he learned in his years of education, such as the relationship between volume and space, would serve him very well in his later work. In 1948 he moved to Paris and made his first works with plaster and terracotta, influenced by Greek sculptures. In 1950 he held his first exposition in Paris; he returned to the Basque Country a year later, where he started working in the Manuel Illarramendi forge, in Hernani, to learn the art of forging. His first piece, “Ilarik”, marked the beginning of a period when he made rebellious works out of iron. Years later, he began experimenting with new materials and made his first pieces with alabaster, granite, concrete and steel, the latter becoming one of his favourites.
Chillida's sculptures are characterised by their volume and their integration into open spaces, forming part of streets and cities. His better-known works include: “El Peine de los vientos”, in San Sebastián, made up of three pieces weighing 11 tons each which represent the close relationship between the sea and the wind; “Monumento a los Fueros”, in Vitoria; “Berlin”, in the German city of the same name; and “Gure Aitaren Etxea”, in Gernika, a monumental work weighing more than six tons.
In 2000, now recognised internationally and decorated with the most prestigious awards for Sculptures and Fine Arts, he pursued one of his dreams and opened the Chillida-Leku Museum in Hernani. The museum has an open space area in which art and nature come together as one.
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