Manel Pujol Baladas — Nude Torso (1993) — Art Miami — Large certified mixed media and collage

Signed and dated 1993, Naked Torso is a large-format work by Manel Pujol Baladas, created on canvas and belonging to the collection associated with Art Miami.

With dimensions of 116 × 89 cm, the composition is structured around a large, naked female torso that vertically occupies the center of the piece. The figure is constructed using whites, bluish grays, earth tones, and blacks, surrounded by a complex web of objects, printed papers, press fragments, and collage elements.

In the lower area, an open book stands out, formed by authentic pages incorporated onto the surface. One of them contains literary text headed by the word "Mephistopheles"; next to it, an old musical score introduces a second printed language into the painting.

The body, literature, and music are thus brought together within the same structure.

The body as the axis of the composition

The female torso dominates the work and organizes the entire space vertically.

Pujol Baladas avoids any academic treatment of the nude. The body appears elongated, fragmented, and partially reconstructed through paint smears and thick black contours.

The chest and the curve of the torso allow the figure to be immediately identified, but other areas dissolve amidst collage, pigment, and abstract forms.

The nude is not, therefore, presented as an anatomical exercise. It becomes a pictorial structure around which the rest of the elements are organized.

The figure emerges from the matter and, at the same time, seems to be absorbed by it.

A nude between figuration and abstraction

From a certain distance, the reading of the body is clear.

Upon approaching, however, the anatomy begins to lose continuity. Large grayish planes mix with paper fragments, white brushstrokes, dark stains, and various overlays.

Pujol Baladas maintains only the references necessary for the viewer to mentally reconstruct the figure.

This tension between recognition and dissolution provides the work with much of its intensity.

The body remains present, but ceases to be a closed form to become integrated into the entire pictorial surface.

The open book: literature within the painting

In the lower part of the composition appears one of the work's most unique elements: an open book formed by real pages adhered to the canvas.

The leaves remain wrinkled, partially covered by pigment and crossed by small pictorial interventions.

On one of them, the name “Mephistopheles” can be clearly read, along with various fragments of dialogue and text.

The incorporation of these pages literally introduces the written word into the painting.

This is not simply about representing a book: Pujol Baladas uses the real object—its pages, its typography, and its folds—as pictorial material.

The musical score

The right page of the book is formed by a musical score, whose staves and notes remain perfectly recognizable despite the paint interventions.

This element establishes an interesting relationship with other works by Pujol Baladas in which music appears physically integrated through printed fragments.

Here, however, literature and music appear together.

Text, score, and human body form three distinct languages—word, sound, and image—superimposed within the same composition.

This detail lends Naked Torso a conceptual complexity unusual in the artist's still lifes and figurative scenes.

Collage and matter

The surface incorporates numerous fragments of press, printed text, and cut paper, partially hidden under layers of paint.

In some areas, news, figures, and newspaper columns can be recognized; in others, the printing has been reduced to a simple graphic texture.

Pujol Baladas does not clearly differentiate between painting and collage.

Brushstrokes traverse the cutouts, continue onto the canvas, and disappear again under new layers of paper.

The folds, edges, and small irregularities of the collage remain visible and provide relief to the surface.

The work thus functions not only as an image, but also as a physical construction.

A complex palette

Although the central body is dominated by whites and bluish grays, the composition incorporates numerous secondary tones.

Pinks, earth tones, ochres, greens, and small red accents are distributed across the rest of the surface.

These warm zones contrast with the cooler character of the torso and help to visually separate it from the background.

The black contours act as a structural element and connect different parts of the composition, while the wide whites provide luminosity and depth.

The result is a chromatically rich painting that maintains its unity.

The body surrounded by objects and symbols

The figure does not appear isolated.

Around the torso are distributed different circular forms, fruits, containers, and elements difficult to identify with precision, which refer back to the habitual vocabulary of Pujol Baladas's still lifes.

However, the presence of the human figure completely transforms their meaning.

The work ceases to belong exclusively to the genre of still life and becomes a more open composition, where body, objects, literature, and music coexist within the same space.

This accumulation contributes to the enigmatic nature of the piece.

1993: a painting of full material maturity

The autograph date “93”, visible next to the signature, places the work at a particularly significant moment in Pujol Baladas's output.

By the early 1990s, the artist had fully developed a language based on the combination of expressive figuration, collage, gestural painting, and material informalism.

In Naked Torso, all these elements appear especially well-integrated.

The anatomy provides the initial structure, but it is the accumulation of matter, paper, and pigment that ultimately determines the character of the work.

Art Miami

Naked Torso belongs to the collection of Manel Pujol Baladas works linked to Art Miami, from the period of the artist's international expansion during the first half of the nineties.

This provenance places the painting in an exhibition context that is particularly relevant within his career.

The combination of large format, autograph date, exhibition provenance, and direct documentation from the artist allows the piece to be contextualized with particular precision within this period.

Certificate and documentation

The work has an original certificate signed by Manel Pujol Baladas, identified as M.P.B. No. 0156.

The document records the title Naked Torso, the mixed media, the dimensions of 116 × 89 cm, and a reference value of 740,000 Mexican pesos.

There is a discrepancy regarding the date: the certificate records 1992, while the painting itself bears the autograph inscription “93” next to the signature.

For this reason, this cataloging uses 1993 as the primary date, as it is the date written directly on the work, while also noting the 1992 date included in the subsequent certificate.

The artist's studio has further confirmed that the figures recorded in these certificates correspond to the prices in Mexican pesos established for the master's works.

Technical sheet

Author: Manel Pujol Baladas
Title: Naked Torso
Year: 1993, according to the autograph date visible on the work
Documentary note: Certificate M.P.B. 0156 records 1992
Technique: Mixed media and collage on canvas
Dimensions: 116 × 89 cm
Signature: Signed “M. Pujol Baladas” and dated “93” in the upper right corner
Exhibition provenance: Art Miami
Subject: Nude / contemporary figurative composition
Collage elements: Text pages, musical score, and printed press
Style: Expressive figuration and material informalism
Certification: Original certificate signed by Manel Pujol Baladas
Certificate No.: M.P.B. 0156
Documented reference value: 740,000 MXN
Subsequent provenance: Private collection; belonging to the set of works certified directly by the artist
Conservation status: Good general condition, preserving the textures, folds, and reliefs inherent to the mixed media and collage.

Studio Note

One of the most iconographically complex works of the collection.

The large female torso provides an immediately recognizable image, but upon approaching, other levels of reading appear: press, superimposed papers, a literary page headed by “Mephistopheles,” and a musical score authentically incorporated into the collage.

Pujol Baladas thus brings together body, word, and music on the same surface.

The contrast between the monumentality of the nude and the physical fragility of the pages, wrinkled and partially covered by pigment, is especially interesting.

Its large format of 116 × 89 cm, the autograph signature and date of 1993, the Art Miami provenance, and the individual certificate signed by the artist himself make Naked Torso one of the most complete and unique pieces from this period.

This work is discussed alongside other paintings and works on paper in the Taller’s study of his painting in the 1990s.