Empty Box with Large Opening

In 1958, Oteiza began working on his "conclusive works", which were highly geometric, matter-free spatial signs, later considered to be examples of proto-Minimalist sculptures. The sculptor interprets the void of which these works consist as a point of arrival and the sign that one process has concluded and another is beginning. Metaphysical Box by Conjunction of Two Trihedrons. Homage to Leonardo (Caja metafísica por conjunción de dos triedos. Homenaje a Leonardo), 1958, forms part the conclusive works created at the pinnacle of Jorge Oteiza's fruitful artistic career. These sculptures, the experimental nucleus of his work, are the most important and have had the greatest impact on the development of modern sculpture. Although Oteiza experimented with different types of geometric shapes, the cube provided the artist with the solution to his personal search as a sculptor: to define an empty space which could be filled with spiritual energy. This sculpture is an excellent example of the artist's metaphysical boxes. A dark and mysterious space is created in the interior, and when the boxes were placed on a stone or marble base the sensation the artist was after became even clearer: the feeling of a sacred space.

Empty Box with Large Opening (Caja vacía con gran apertura), also from 1958, belongs to the last great series known as Empty Boxes (Cajas Vacías), and represents a remarkably subtle box, where space and form flow much more than they do in other components of the same series.