Pere Oliver Ribalta — Abstract Composition, 2007 — mixed media on paper

A large vertical shape, constructed using intense yellows, ochres, and oranges, concentrates virtually all the energy of the composition. Pere Oliver Ribalta leaves large areas of the paper untouched and makes the paint advance through drags, overlays, and rapid gestures, so that the matter and the movement of the brush take on as much prominence as the form itself.

Dated 2007, this small work on paper shows an especially free and synthetic side of the artist, far removed from figurative representation and focused on color, rhythm, and the direct trace of the pictorial process.

The Work

The composition is articulated around an ascending mass that occupies the center of the paper. Yellows visually dominate the surface, accompanied by ochres, oranges, reds, and small appearances of darker tones that provide depth and tension.

Ribalta works by leaving the support visible and taking advantage of the contrast between the pictorial matter and the white of the paper. Long, vertical strokes are combined with areas of denser paint and others almost swept, creating an irregular and highly dynamic surface.

The lower part concentrates the greatest visual weight. There, the brushstroke curves and partially closes the composition, while in the upper area the paint opens and ascends. The result is an abstract image but with a clear structure, built more from the gesture than from prior drawing.

The work is signed “Ribalta” and dated “2007” in the lower right corner.

Pere Oliver Ribalta

Pere Oliver Ribalta (1923–2016) developed an extensive pictorial career over several decades. Although a good part of his known production is linked to figuration, landscape, and still life, his work also reflects a progressive freedom in the treatment of the brushstroke, color, and matter.

This late piece, made when the artist already had long experience, is especially interesting for its economy of means. The motif practically disappears and the painting concentrates on relationships of color, direction, and texture.

Rather than describing an external reality, Ribalta lets the act of painting itself construct the image here.

Technical Sheet

Artist: Pere Oliver Ribalta (1923–2016)
Title: Abstract Composition
Date: 2007
Technique: Mixed media on paper
Measurements: 25 × 20 cm
Signature: Signed “Ribalta” and dated “2007” in the lower right corner
Style: Gestural abstraction
Period: Contemporary Spanish art
Provenance: Private collection
Condition: Good general condition, with small signs typical of a work on paper and visible in the photographs.

Studio Note

The most attractive thing about this work is the freedom with which Ribalta uses a very small format. He does not try to fill the entire sheet: he concentrates the paint in a single vertical structure and lets the white of the paper form an active part of the composition.

The yellows and ochres have an especially intense presence, but it is the drags, interruptions, and changes in the direction of the brushstroke that give the piece its character. It is a work simple in its approach, but very direct, where the painter's gesture can be clearly seen.