Esteban Lisa: Playing with Lines and Colors

This retrospective exhibition of Argentine/Spanish Esteban Lisa marks the first time the extraordinary abstract works of the artist have been shown in a museum in the United States.  It is rare to “rediscover” an important modernist artist, particularly one whose work is as fully realized through five decades of painting.  Although small, his works are subtly beautiful, from the restrained gradations of abstract form and color of the 1930s paintings, to the surprisingly vivid explosions of color marks across the pages from the 1950s to 1970s.  Little is known about the artist’s life or development as Lisa largely matured in isolation, never exhibiting his work during his lifetime, as he was surrounded by Argentine artists and collectors with a preference for figurative work.  Instead, through extensive reading and study, Lisa explored the ideas and theories of abstraction, mysticism, and cosmology that were being investigated by contemporary European artists.  It is clear from his work, his teaching, and his writing, that Lisa was among the avant-garde modernist artists who saw abstraction as a sign of impending global change.  This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Latin American Art in association with the Fundación Esteban Lisa in Buenos Aires and is curated by Jorge Virgili and Barbara Bloemink.

Composición/ Composition, oil on canvas, 1941-5, Alejandro Bestani Collection