Hilo rojo con caracol y tetera (Red thread with seashell and teapot)

CARLOS M. TONELLI (1937-2011). Painter and engraver. He studied with Luis A. Solari, Edgardo Ribeiro and Humberto Frangella. He graduated from the National School of Fine Arts and obtained a scholarship to study in Europe. He was a teacher and participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and in the biennials of Sao Paulo (1975, 1979, 1990) and La Habana (1986). He obtained numerous awards and distinctions, such as the Grand National Prize for Painting Gold Medal (1981) and the Figari Award (2002). In its different stages, his production displays a strong technical rigor, often hyper realistic, as well as an exhaustive analysis of color and light. He adheres to the idea of a “symbolic objectivism”, in which the representation of objects is enlivened by a transcendent content. Many of his symbols —of esoteric tradition— “are disguised by plastic means, but reveal the artist’s confidence that the magic they summon can be revitalized”. Hilo rojo con caracol y tetera (Red thread with seashell and teapot IADB#1992.327) represents his still lifes, “of meticulous craftsmanship, with the objects frontally displayed against a dark background, alluding to the idea of vanitas, the fleetingness of the world and of its things”.