Rafael Canogar: Imprints (Paintings 1958 - 1962)

Rafael Canogar (b. 1935) is one of the leading Spanish artists of the post-war era.  He first came to prominence in Madrid in the late-1950s as a founder member of the El Paso group amidst an era of conservatism, social conformity and oppression under General Franco. There, in conjunction with other young artists such as Manolo Millares, Antonio Saura, and Manuel Rivera, Canogar was responsible for creating a provocative and radically new, gestural language of abstract painting that gave fierce, visceral expression to a dynamic sense of energy and individual freedom. These were paintings that, like Wols in France, Emil Schumacher in Germany or Alberto Burri in Italy, immediately established Canogar as one of the foremost pioneers of ‘Informalist’ painting in Europe.