Pablo Palazuelo is one of the key figures of twentieth-century abstraction in Spain. The inventor of what is often called , he is known for his elegant and refined use of basic geometric shapes which he freely combines to create abstract representations of his surrounding world.
After graduating in Architecture from the Oxford School of Arts and Crafts (1933-1936), Palazuelo moved back to Madrid, where he reoriented his career towards painting and later sculpture. His experimentation led him to pure, geometric and mathematical abstraction in which one can discern the influence of the Cubist painting of Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), and more particularly of Paul Klee (1879-1940).
In 1948 he won a scholarship from the French Government, thanks to which he was able to move to Paris. His time there was key to the development of an extremely analytic creative process which evinces the theoretical and methodical foundations of his practice. Most of the time, this process began with a preliminary sketch on paper that the artist used as a regulating model to compose the works making up each family—the term he used for his series. This methodology may have had its origin in the notes he made about the of the tablecloths in the bistrot he frequented during this time in Paris.
This work from the BBVA Collection suggests the use of that technique, as it coincides stylistically with the series the artist carried out in the 1950s in Paris following this methodology. In consequence, Palazuelo intertwines various geometric plates that allow him, through a process of formal reduction and transformation, to render several compositions based on a single initial geometric model.
In

 gouache 

A watermedia painting technique that uses gum arabic as a binding agent. Unlike watercolour, whose result is translucent and allows the support to be seen due to its use of a thinner pigment, the surface in gouaches is totally opaque.

, the artist subtly combines straight and curved lines, evincing his superb grasp of geometry and mathematics applied to visual art. The piece shows a number of ramifications harmoniously branching out over the surface, giving rise to a flowing rhythm that instils the composition with a subtle dynamism. Through geometry, Palazuelo develops a kind of non-figurative landscape that responds to his attempt to translate into abstraction the essence of his surrounding reality. This visual oscillation reflects Palazuelo’s interest in the intrinsic movement irradiating from the forms, as well as the passion for harmony and music that inspired much of his art production.