Manuel Viola (Spanish, 1916-1987)

† Manuel Viola
(Spanish, 1916-1987)
"Untitled", 1965
seven watercolor and crayons on paper
unsigned, together with letter confirming attribution.
Float-mounted, glazed and framed together.
each 10" x 7" or 7" x 10", framed 30" x 43-1/8"
Provenance: Estate of Charles Christopher Soufas, New Orleans, Louisiana.

A writer and self-taught artist, Viola was a member of the Catalan art community by the age of 15, contributing poems and drawings to ART magazine and other publications. In 1934, he moved to Barcelona and was soon associated with the Amigos de las Artes Nuevas. Viola held strong political views and during the Spanish Civil War he fought against the Nationalists; this was to ultimately lead to his exile to France at the end of the war. During World War II he served in the Foreign Legion and was an active participant in the French Resistance. Viola eventually made his way to Paris, where he exhibited abstracted figural compositions at the Salon des Surindependants. He was not to return to Spain until 1949. Viola's later works were explorations of the interplay of light and shadow and the forms that resulted from this relationship.
Condition Report: Not examined out of frame. Condition as expected with age and material. With losses, toning, foxing and buckling to papers. Frame with losses and abrasions.

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