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Basic data

Eduardo Chillida is one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. He comes from San Sebastián, located in the Spanish part of the Basque Country. Chillida studied architecture at the University of Madrid, but soon turned to artistic design.

  • Born: 10 January 1924
  • Died: 19 August 2002
  • Place of birth: San Sebastián, Spain
  • Nationality: Spanish
  • Studied at: University of Madrid
  • Similar artists: Antoni Tapies
  • Era: Modern art
  • Stylistic direction: abstract painting

 

Eduardo Chillida Prices

Artist: Title: Price: Type: Size: Edition: Handsigned: Numbered: Date:
Eduardo Chillida Munich van der Koelen 94015 4650 Euro Original print 31.5 x 23.6 in limited edition of 98 yes yes 17.07.2019
Eduardo Chillida St. Gallen van der Koelen 84014 3900 Euro Original print 25.6 x 19.7 in limited edition of 75 yes yes 17.07.2019
Eduardo Chillida Sapai van der Koelen 69001 3900 Euro Original print 16.1 x 29.5 in limited edition of 75 yes yes 17.07.2019
Eduardo Chillida Gegen die Folter 4900 Original print 21 x 29.5 in limited edition of 150 yes yes  

 

Biography

Eduardo Chillida was born on January 10, 1924 in San Sebastián and initially studied architecture in Madrid. However, he abandoned his studies to devote himself entirely to art and studied drawing at a private art school. Here he learned the basics of sculpture under the artist José Martinez Repullés. 

In 1948 Chillida moved to Paris, where he set up a studio and created his first sculptures in plaster and clay. He made the acquaintance of the Spanish painter Pablo Palazuelo, with whom he would have a long friendship.

Chillida finally decided to move back to Spain and set up his own studio with a forge in Hernani. This meant a new artistic beginning for the Basque. The first monumental iron sculptures were created.

It is especially Chillida's completely independent formal language that made him one of the most important sculptors in Spain. He experimented with a wide variety of materials, such as granite, felt, paper, iron and steel. He dealt with spatial experiences and matter and made emptiness tangible in his art. In addition to his sculptural work, however, he also created drawings and limited edition prints, which occupy an equally important and independent part of his oeuvre. Just like the sculptures, they also aim to promote a recognition and awareness of the intangible and formulate an examination of the theme of space.

While Eduardo Chillida remained largely unnoticed in his home country, he was able to celebrate his first successes abroad. As early as the end of the 1950s, he received the grand international prize for sculpture at the Biennale di Venezia. In addition, he participated four times in the Documenta in Kassel and took part in various exhibitions and retrospectives in the United States and Europe from the 1960s to the 1980s. He also received prestigious public commissions, such as the design of the monumental abstract steel sculpture in front of the Chancellery in Berlin. However, the sculptor was no longer able to attend the unveiling ceremony. He was already struggling with health limitations.

In 2000, in Hernani, the artist's place of residence and work, the museum "Chillida-Leku" (Chillida's Place) was opened in the farmhouse acquired in 1982, dedicated to his art. Regrettably, this had to be closed in 2011. In 2002, the Basque died in his hometown of San Sebastián.

 

Exhibitions

  • 26.06.21 - 29.08.21 Sammlung König-Lebschik - Kunsthaus Bregenz.
  • 06.10.20 - 27.11.2020 Dreamsongs: From Medicine To Demons To Artificial Intelligence - Colnaghi London.
  • 29.05.19 - 31.08.19 ACCROCHAGE. Bilder, Skulpturen, Objekte, Zeichnungen - Galerie Georg Nothelfer, Berlin.
  • 20.09.19 - 05.02.20 PICASSO – GORKY - WARHOL - Kunsthaus Zurich.
  • 06.11.19 - 11.01.20 ACCROCHAGE - Galerie Boisserée, Cologne.
  • 22.05.2019 - 08.09.2019 Al Norte de la Tormenta: from Robert Rauschenberg to Juan Muñoz - MAXXI Rome.
  • 26.01.2019 - 18.03.2019 FROM GESTURE TO FORM - Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice.
  • 05.12.2017 - 15.04.2018 Art and Space - Museo Guggenheim, Bilbao.
  • 09.11.2017 - 28.01.2018 Von der Liebe in den Dingen - Kunstmuseum Bonn.
  • 13.05.2017 - 26.11.2017 INTUITION - PALAZZO FORTUNY, Venice.
  • 15.02.2017 - 14.05.2017 In die dritte Dimension. Raumkonzepte auf Papier vom Bauhaus bis zur Gegenwart - Städel Museum, Frankfurt/Main.
  • 19.04.2016 - 18.09.2016 Sculpture on the Move 1946–2016 - Kunstmuseum Basel.
  • 01.05.2015 - 28.06.2015 20th Century Visionaries. Print and Photographs from the Permanent Collection - St. Louis University Museum of Art, St. Louis.
  • 23.11.2014 - 30.11.2014 Eduardo Chillida: Zeichnungen, Collagen, Gravitationen, Neuerwerbungen - Galerie Biedermann, Munich.
  • 23.09.2014 - 03.05.2015 THE ART OF OUR TIME. MASTERPIECES FROM THE GUGGENHEIM COLLECTIONS - Museo Guggenheim, Bilbao.
  • 21.03.2014 - 10.01.2015 On paper - Fundacio Sunol, Barcelona.

 

Awards

  • 1960: Prix Kandinsky, Paris.
  • 1966: Wilhelm-Lehmbruck-prize of the city Duisburg.
  • 1984: Wolf-Prize, Israel.
  • 1985: Goslarer Kaiserring.
  • 1987: Premios Princesa de Asturias, Oviedo.
  • 1993: Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
  • 1994: Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
  • 2000: Piepenbrock Prize for sculpture, Berlin.
  • 2001: Foreign member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts.

 

Films

  • Eduardo Chillida, Documentation by Laurence Boulting, 59min, Spain 1985.

 

Literature

  • Eduardo Chillida. Architekt der Leere, exhibition catalog, Alexander Klar (Publ.), Cologne 2018.
  • Eduardo Chillida - Kunst kennt keine Grenzen, exhibition catalog, Dr. Gabriele Lohberg (Publ.), Koblenz 2015.
  • Eduardo Chillida: Grenzen entgleiten. Die frühe Druckgrafik, exhibition catalog, Astrid Ihle & Reinhard Spieler (Publ.), Bielefeld, Berlin 2014.
  • Eduardo Chillida, Thomas Weber (Publ.), Cologne 2008.
  • Eduardo Chillida. Schriften, Tony Cragg (Publ.), Wuppertal 2008.
  • Eduardo Chillida. Buscando la Luz, Carla Schulz-Hoffmann (Publ.), Cologne 2002.
  • Chillida, exhibition catalog, Carmen Sylvia Weber (Publ.), Künzelsau 2001.
  • Eduardo Chillida. Elkartu, exhibition catalog, Ron Manheim (Publ.), Bedburg-Hau 2001.

 

Collections

Germany

 

Italy

 

Mexico

 

Austria

 

Switzerland

 

Spain

 

Weblinks