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Under the direction of Cecilia De Torres
Assisted by Susanna V. Temkin, Madeline Murphy Turner, and Victoria L. Fedrigotti
Catalogue Entry
1938.29 (estate: 559)
Grafismo mágico
Alternate title: Constructivismo
1938
Tempera on cardboard
39 3/8 x 34 1/4 in. (100 x 87 cm)
Signed lower right: J. Torres-GARCIA; dated lower left: 1938
Signed lower left: AAÇ
Torres-García wrote "Indoamerica" (lower left) and "Ley" (lower right) in this painting in his invented alphabet, created in 1937 and found in many of his works created during the AAC period.
Provenance
Estate of the artist
Ifigenia Torres
Estate of Ifigenia Torres
Galerie Jan Krugier, Ditesheim & Cie, Geneva
Private collection, New York
Christie's New York, November 8, 2006, Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale, lot 83.
Sammer Gallery, José Ignacio, Uruguay
Gary Nader Fine Art, Miami
Exhibitions
1955 Musée national d'art moderne / Centre de création industrielle
Musée national d'art moderne / Centre de création industrielle, Paris, Joaquín Torres García, November–December 1955, no. 18.1956 Venice XXVIII Biennale Internazionale D'Arte
Venice XXVIII Biennale Internazionale D'Arte, Sala LIX: Uruguay, Venice, Italy, June–September 1956, no. 6.1959 Museo Torres-García
Museo Torres-García, Montevideo, Uruguay, March 1959, no. 26.1964 Instituto Torcuato Di Tella
Centro de Artes Visuales, Instituto Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Joaquín Torres-García: Obras de museos y colecciones particulares de Montevideo y Buenos Aires, November 4–29, 1964, no. 8.1965 Amigos del Arte
Amigos del Arte, Montevideo, Arte Constructivo: Joaquín Torres-García, October 25, 1965, no. 5.1967 Museo Torres-García
Museo Torres-García, Montevideo, Uruguay, Selección de cuadros y maderas, July 28–October 31, 1967, no. 3.1974 The University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin, Archer M. Huntington Galleries, Texas, Joaquín Torres-García, 1874-1949: Chronology and Catalogue of the Family Collection, October 13–November 24, 1974, no. 76*, ill., p. 101 (Spanish version p. 111), Listed as number 35 in Caracas exhibition catalogue. Traveled to: Fundación Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas, Venezuela, January 13–February 26, 1975; Galería INC, Museo de Arte Italiano, Lima, Peru, August 22–September 1975.1980 Meredith Long Contemporary
Meredith Long Contemporary, New York, Joaquín Torres-García Paintings: 1929- 1943, March 12–29, 1980. (Meredith Long Contemporary 1980), no. 7, ill. Traveled to: Meredith Long & Contemporary, Houston, May 1980.1985–86b Hayward Gallery
Hayward Gallery, London, Torres-García: Grid-Pattern-Sign: Paris-Montevideo 1924-1944, November 14, 1985–February 23, 1986, no. 106, ill., p. 89. Traveled to: Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain, March 13–May 4, 1986; Stadtische Kunsthalle Dusseldorf, Germany, June 28–August 17, 1986; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, September 14–November 9, 1986; Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas, February 14–April 5, 1987.2001 Fundación Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa
Fundación Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa, Bilbao, Spain, Joaquín Torres-García: Dibujos, January 15–February 25, 2001, no. 64, ill., p. 177.2003–04 Museo Picasso
Museo Picasso, Barcelona, Spain, Torres-García, November 25, 2003–April 11, 2004, no. 279, ill., p. 285.2006 Oriol Galería d'Art
Oriol Galería d'Art, Barcelona, Spain, Torres-García: 30 pinturas de 1919 a 1949: New York-Paris-Madrid-Montevideo, June 22–September 22, 2006, no. 26, ill., p. 51.2007 Galería de las Misiones
Galería de las Misiones, José Ignacio, Uruguay, Un Siglo de Arte Uruguayo, January 2007, ill., p. 5 and 39.Published References
Iturburu 1957
Iturburu, Cordova. "Las Vestales de la Memoria de Torres Garcia." El Hogar (Buenos Aires) (April 5, 1957), ill., as Constructivismo.Ramírez 1991
El Taller Torres-García: The School of the South and Its Legacy. Edited by Mari-Carmen Ramírez. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991. Exhibition catalogue, ill. p. 17 (Spanish version p. 26).Fló 2006
Fló, Juan. "Joaquín Torres García y el arte prehispánico." In Imaginarios Prehispánicos en el Arte Uruguayo:1870-1970, Museo de Arte Precolombino e Indígena. Montevideo, 2006. Exhibition catalogue, Detail, ill. p. 66, fig. 8a.Gradowczyk 2007
Gradowczyk, Mario H. Torres-García: Utopía y Transgresión. Montevideo: Fundación Torres-García, 2007. Exhibition catalogue, ill. p. 289, no. 7.54.Record last updated June 29, 2016. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: de Torres, Cecilia, Susanna V. Temkin, Madeline Murphy Turner, and Victoria L. Fedrigotti. "Grafismo mágico, 1938 (1938.29)." In Joaquín Torres-García Catalogue Raisonné. www.torresgarcia.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=1530 (accessed on July 17, 2025).