Signed lower right: Siqueiros / C.P. 12-63

Private collection, London.

David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) Untitled, 1963 Acrylic on paper laid on board 20 x 14 inches (50.8 x 35.6 cm) Signed lower right: Siqueiros / C.P. 12-63 PROVENANCE: Private collection, London. NOTE: We are grateful to Dr. Irene Herner for her assistance cataloguing this work. According to Dr. Herner, Siqueiros painted the composition on a spiral notebook page in December 1963, at the end of his fourth painful year incarcerated in the Lecumberri preventative prison. Sitting for hours in his cell, he remembered the outside world by tracing shapes, as in this case, of dynamic balance. Here, Siqueiros depicts two dancers. Rendered with a minimum of brushstrokes, the figure in the foreground appears with his head in profile, his arms raised holding a spear-like weapon whose strength is marked by a diagonal zigzag. The second figure is enveloped by spiral rotations. This small synthetic sketch illustrates Siqueiros' masterful technique and his playful and experimental capacity. He creates a sensation of rotating, concentric movement with spiraling columns that achieve dynamism without abandoning their vertical structure. This dynamism is a clear characteristic of Siqueiros' style that reappears in monumental paintings such as Flama (1969), where concentric movement suggests the figure of a giant touching the sky with raised arms. In the present lot, Siqueiros highlights on paper the rich textures of acrylic paint that overlap in lush red, brown, gray, black and white strokes. During this same month in 1963, he also made a series of black ink drawings on paper, two of which feature similar spiraling figures. In addition to this series of ink drawings, in the following months, he made a series of sketches, mainly landscapes, in which he used shoe polish in the absence of industrial paint and ink. The lot is accompanied by Dr. Herner's documentary essay from September 18, 2024. HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Presents well. Paper sheet with deckled lower edge. Scattered small tears, minor losses, and toning to edges of sheet, not visible when framed. Scattered mild surface abrasions and small dots of foxing, most apparent in the background. A very few faint hairline scratches affecting the painted elements. Minor surface dirt and dust. Sheet is laid down on a stable Masonite board secondary support, preventing inspection of sheet verso. Framed unglazed. Framed Dimensions 27.5 X 21.75 Inches