The Dagger

In La daga (The Dagger) appears a woman about to be attacked by a murderer with a knife not visible in the scene. The main character, taken from a high angle shot, can be seen in the foreground with her face possessed by terror. The dark background contrasts with the brightness of her face and disappears with the victim’s dress. The light falls on her face and neck, while the rest of the painting is submitted to darkness, giving the piece a theatrical character. A weapon and a barely-sketched pair of hands can be made out, while a thin straight line divides the scene into two parts.

The color of his paintings and prints is usually very sober. The sepias and blacks blend together in a play of subtle gradations that makes the bright areas stand out. The drawer’s skill that backs his pictorial work has allowed him to develop important works in the fields of graphic arts, where he displays the same quality and accuracy than in his paintings, as can be seen in the two monotypes that the artist produced prior to the oil painting acquired by the MUSA in 1994. Both graphic versions were donated by the artist as reference to the painting’s production process.