Manel Pujol Baladas — Still life with blue potatoes (1990) — Mixed media and collage on canvas

Created in 1990, Bodegón patatas azul is one of the most intensely material-based compositions by Manel Pujol Baladas (Vic, 1947) in this group of works from Art Miami.

On a canvas measuring 65 × 80 cm, the artist returns to the still-life genre but takes its elements to the point of dissolution. Potatoes, vessels and domestic forms remain recognisable within the painting, although submerged beneath a complex surface of collage, impasto, patches of colour and black strokes.

The palette is one of its most distinctive features. Deep blues, set against blacks, whites and small warmer passages, transform an everyday motif into an almost dramatic composition. The materials do more than describe the objects: they acquire their own physical presence and become a central concern of the work.

A still life at the edge of abstraction

In Bodegón patatas azul, Pujol Baladas retains a figurative starting point while progressively narrowing the distance between object and painting.

Thick, dark strokes outline the forms in fragments. In some areas, the volumes of the still life remain recognisable; elsewhere, the objects seem to dissolve beneath layers of pigment, becoming patches, reliefs and lines.

This ambiguity calls for viewing from different distances. From afar, the still life comes together; close up, representation gives way to an almost autonomous surface of paper, paint and texture.

Much of the work’s strength lies precisely in this tension between figuration and abstraction.

Blue as the leading element

The colour immediately distinguishes this painting from other still lifes in the same group.

Pujol Baladas uses blue as a structural element rather than a purely descriptive device. Dark, deep tones extend across much of the composition, interrupted by whites and blacks that intensify the contrast.

This choice is particularly expressive when applied to something as ordinary as potatoes. The humble object loses its neutrality and enters a much more intense, almost nocturnal atmosphere.

The composition thus demonstrates the artist’s ability to transform ordinary motifs through his treatment of material and colour, without entirely abandoning figurative references.

Collage and the memory of everyday life

The surface incorporates fragments of printed paper, partially covered by successive layers of paint.

Text appears and disappears among the pigment, leaving small traces of newspapers and graphic material that bring everyday reality directly into the canvas.

Pujol Baladas uses these papers as part of the work’s physical construction. Wrinkles, edges, overlaps and raised areas become integrated into the painting and alter the way light falls on its surface.

The collage thus becomes an inseparable part of his material language, extending beyond a reference to the historical avant-gardes.

A surface built in layers

The execution is one of the painting’s most engaging aspects.

Thick layers of paint, scraping, sweeping strokes and the incorporation of paper create an uneven, almost sculptural surface. The craquelure visible in some areas results from this accumulation and tension between materials, forming part of the appearance the painting has acquired over time.

Pujol Baladas leaves the creative process exposed. Each layer seems to retain the memory of the previous one, allowing the viewer to reconstruct, in part, how the work was built up on the canvas.

In this sense, Bodegón patatas azul is both a still life and an exploration of the physical substance of painting itself.

1990: a work at the beginning of a decisive decade

The date 1990 places the painting at a particularly interesting point in Pujol Baladas’s career.

At the turn of the decade, his painting had already established a highly personal language based on the coexistence of figuration, gesture, collage and material-based Art Informel. Everyday motifs remained recognisable but no longer served as the ultimate aim of representation.

In works such as this, the still life becomes primarily a structure for experimenting with colour, material and surface.

The painting makes this transition especially clear: it retains a strong connection to the depicted object while continually anticipating its disappearance into the paint.

Art Miami

The painting was part of the group of works by Manel Pujol Baladas presented at Art Miami, during the period of his international expansion in the United States.

This history is particularly relevant because it places the painting within a specific exhibition context, alongside its place in the artist’s wider production.

Its selection for Art Miami, together with the early date of 1990, makes it a particularly interesting example of the language Pujol Baladas was developing at the start of that decade: a painting still figurative in its motifs, but increasingly dominated by material and gesture.

Certificate and documentation

The work has an original certificate signed by Manel Pujol Baladas, identified as M.P.B. no. 0123, in which the artist certifies its authorship, title, technique, dimensions and date of execution.

The document also records a reference value of 460,000 Mexican pesos, with a mention of the SAT—Mexico’s Servicio de Administración Tributaria.

According to information provided directly by Pujol Baladas, these amounts correspond to the reference prices established by the artist for his works. The indicative equivalent is around €23,000, a figure that should be distinguished from the work’s subsequent performance on the secondary market.

The combination of an individual certificate and Art Miami exhibition history provides particularly valuable documentation for the painting.

Work details

Artist: Manel Pujol Baladas
Title: Bodegón patatas azul
Year: 1990
Technique: Mixed media and textured collage on canvas
Dimensions: 65 × 80 cm
Signature: Signed “M. Pujol Baladas”
Exhibition history: Art Miami
Genre: Contemporary still life
Style: Expressive figuration and material-based Art Informel
Certification: Original certificate signed by Manel Pujol Baladas
Certificate number: M.P.B. 0123
Documented reference value: 460,000 MXN
Subsequent provenance: Private collection; part of a group of 18 certified works by the artist
Condition: Good overall condition. The surface shows craquelure and stresses associated with the work’s heavily textured execution.

The Workshop’s Note

One of the most richly textured and visually forceful works in this group by Manel Pujol Baladas.

Here, the still life almost disappears beneath the paint. The potatoes and vessels remain present, but become caught between layers of paper, pigment, reliefs and black strokes. The predominance of blue gives the composition a more intense and less conventional character than a traditional still life.

It is especially interesting to look closely: where objects can be seen from a distance, the surface reveals small newspaper fragments, cracks, impasto and traces of the working process.

The date 1990, the Art Miami exhibition history and the individual certificate signed by Pujol Baladas complete a painting particularly characteristic of the moment when the artist takes figuration towards the limits of material-based abstraction.