Arganda,1961 Oil on canvas 130 x 97 cm (51 x 38 in) From 1959 to 1963, Fernando Zobel created what are known as his Black Paintings, a series of monochrome pieces with hyperbolic gestural forms. Devoid of color, Zobel used black as his focal point to create landscapes of motion. In an interview published in Zobel: La Serie Blanca by Rafael Perez-Madero, the painter says of his Black series, Limited to black and white, I tried to find a substitute for the vibrations formerly produced by contrasts of color. He continues, Inevitably, when a painting begins to suggest light and volume, and to the extent that it does, it stops being abstract. In Arganda we see an influence of calligraphy, which Zobel studied in the years prior. A swift lightness springs from the central mass, as if capturing an ephemeral moment, immortalized by the canvas. Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist Collection Gerardo Rueda, Madrid Private collection, Manila Exhibition: Spain, Burgos, Centro Cultural "Casa del Cord�n" �rea de Cultura, El Grupo de Cuenca (Fernando Z�bel, Gerardo Rueda, Gustavo Torner), May - June, 1998