Manel Pujol Baladas — Still Life with Fish (1992) — Art Miami — Large certified mixed media and collage

Created in 1992, Still Life with Fish is a monumental composition by Manel Pujol Baladas, belonging to the group associated with Art Miami and representative of the full maturity of his material language at the beginning of the nineties.

Measuring 130 × 97 cm, the work is organized around a large oval platter filled with fish, mollusks, and other still-life elements. Glasses and cups are distributed around the composition, while paint, drawing, and collage constantly fragment the objects.

The palette combines grayish blues, pinks, whites, blacks, and earth tones, with small accents of green and yellow. The large central plate acts as the axis of the painting and concentrates a complex accumulation of forms that, when viewed up close, begin to dissolve into printed paper, brushstrokes, and matter.

A grand marine still life

The central motif clearly refers to the fish still life, one of the recurring themes within Pujol Baladas’ production.

In this case, however, the scale completely transforms the genre.

The large platter occupies practically all the central space and contains an accumulation of fish and mollusks whose anatomies appear partially simplified or deformed. Some elements can be easily identified; others are absorbed by the pictorial surface.

Pujol Baladas does not seek to reproduce a set table with naturalistic precision.

The food becomes forms, curves, rhythms, and masses of color.

The large plate as architecture

The oval structure of the central vessel organizes the entire composition.

Its grayish-blue edge wraps around the food and creates a powerful, closed form within the canvas. At the same time, the fish, shells, and collage fragments continuously break that stability through diagonals and small internal movements.

The plate functions almost like a painting within a painting.

The greatest visual density is concentrated inside it; outside, glasses and small objects provide resting points and help balance the scene.

This organization gives the work great impact even when viewed from afar.

Fish, mollusks, and matter

Pujol Baladas transforms the marine products through an extremely free approach.

The forms are built using thick black outlines, rapid brushstrokes, areas of impasto, and small fragments of paper incorporated into the painting.

The fish appear in blues, grays, and pinkish tones, while the shells and mollusks introduce repetitive rhythms and darker forms.

The result retains the identity of each element without being subjected to precise description.

The gaze recognizes the still life first; then it begins to discover the autonomy of each stain, line, and fragment.

The vessels and the space

Around the large platter appear different glasses and cups, treated with light lines and transparencies.

On the left, two vertical vessels accompany the edge of the plate; on the right, a dark glass appears that balances the ensemble.

These forms fulfill an important function because they introduce verticals within a composition dominated by the great horizontality of the central vessel.

Pujol Baladas thus plays with the still-life tradition—table, food, glasses—but almost completely eliminates conventional perspective.

The objects seem to be situated simultaneously in front of, around, and on the pictorial plane.

Collage and printed paper

The surface incorporates numerous fragments of printed paper and newsprint, visible especially between the food and in certain areas of the background.

Some retain letters and small columns of text; others have been practically buried by the paint.

Pujol Baladas uses these materials as a structural part of the image.

The paper is superimposed, wrinkled, receives new layers of pigment, and ends up integrated into the very anatomy of the fish and objects.

The collage does not function as an added element, but as one of the basic materials with which the work is built.

A painting of dual readings

From a certain distance, Still Life with Fish offers a clear and resounding image.

The large platter, the fish, the mollusks, and the vessels can be recognized immediately.

Upon approaching, the perception changes.

The figures begin to fragment into cutouts, brushstrokes, small stains, lines, and textures. What seemed like a solid object becomes a succession of superimposed materials.

This transformation between representation and abstraction constitutes one of the most characteristic aspects of Pujol Baladas' painting from this period.

The color

Although the subject might suggest a dark still life, the work presents an especially rich chromatic range.

The light, grayish blues of the plate and the fish are combined with pinks, whites, and earth tones, while intense blacks structure certain areas.

Small greens and yellows appear sporadically among the food.

The palette helps an extremely dense composition maintain a certain luminosity.

The pinkish and grayish backgrounds also soften the forcefulness of the black lines and allow the different elements to be separated visually.

1992: a work of full maturity

The date 1992 places the painting in one of the central moments of Pujol Baladas’ production from the early nineties.

In these years, his language already combines figuration, collage, gestural painting, and matter in a fully developed way.

Still lifes provide the artist with a recognizable structure from which he can alter perspective, anatomy, and surface without completely losing the reference to the everyday world.

Still Life with Fish is especially representative of this stage due to its scale and the density with which all these resources are integrated.

Art Miami

The work belongs to the set of Manel Pujol Baladas paintings associated with Art Miami.

This provenance places the piece within a relevant exhibition context from the artist's international projection phase during the nineties.

In this case, the provenance is particularly significant because it is a work of 130 × 97 cm, one of the largest pieces in the collection.

The combination of large format, exhibition context, and individual certification allows it to be placed with special precision within this period.

Certificate and documentation

The work has an original certificate signed by Manel Pujol Baladas, identified as M.P.B. No. 0158.

The document expressly certifies the title Still Life with Fish, the mixed media, the dimensions of 130 × 97 cm, and its execution in 1992.

Likewise, it includes a reference value of 1,000,000 Mexican pesos, with mention of the SAT (Tax Administration Service of Mexico).

Pujol Baladas' studio has directly confirmed that the amounts included in these certificates correspond to the prices in Mexican pesos established for the master's works.

Within this set, the figure of one million pesos constitutes one of the highest documented references, consistent with the painting's considerable format.

Technical Sheet

Author: Manel Pujol Baladas
Title: Still Life with Fish
Year: 1992
Technique: Mixed media and collage on canvas
Dimensions: 130 × 97 cm
Signature: Signed "M. Pujol Baladas" in the upper left corner
Exhibition provenance: Art Miami
Subject: Still life with fish and seafood / contemporary still life
Style: Expressive figuration and material informalism
Certification: Original certificate signed by Manel Pujol Baladas
Certificate No.: M.P.B. 0158
Documented reference value: 1,000,000 MXN
Subsequent provenance: Private collection; belonging to the group of works certified directly by the artist
Conservation status: Good general condition, preserving the irregularities and textures inherent to the mixed media and collage.

The Studio Note

One of the works with the greatest presence and size in the entire collection.

The large oval platter loaded with fish and mollusks provides an immediately recognizable image, but the true richness of the piece appears upon closer inspection. Each food item then begins to fragment into press clippings, brushstrokes, lines, and small accumulations of matter.

The scale of 130 × 97 cm allows Pujol Baladas to develop this language with an especially notable breadth: the still life practically stops behaving as a traditional still life and acquires the presence of a large mural composition.

Its format, its provenance from Art Miami, the date of 1992, and the individual certificate signed by the artist—with a reference of 1,000,000 MXN, one of the highest in the collection—make Still Life with Fish an especially important piece within this collection.