Eduardo Chillida was born in San Sebastian, Spain, and first studied architecture in Madrid in 1942. Preferring to study drawing, he however gave up his studies in 1947 and went to Paris between 1948 and 1951.

He first produced terracotta and plaster statues before switching to ironworks and took part in the exhibition of young French abstract artists in 1950 showing torsos.

Back in Spain in 1951, he then produced non-figurative works renouncing to represent human figures. He limited himself to showing autonomous forms under the influence of Kandinsky.

In 1955 he took part in the «Eisenplastik» exhibition at the Bern Kunsthalle and at the first Salon of Abstract Sculpture in Paris beside producing a monument dedicated to Sir Alexander Fleming in San Sebastian.

Chillida, who took part in many exhibitions in Spain and abroad insisted on the purity of forms from then on. He was awarded the Sculpture Prize at the 29th Venice Biennial and that from the Graham Foundation in Chicago in 1958 and then the Kandinsky Prize in 1960.

In 1959, Chillida produced his first wood sculptures but carried on with his ironworks. With wood he designed a more massive and square organisation of space with assembled beams.

He also was awarded the Carnegie prize in Pittsburgh in 1964 and exhibited his wood sculptures in Paris showing his most important works such as «Abesti Gogora II» or «Abesti Gogora III». After exhibiting in London, he received the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Prize in Duisburg and the Nord-Rhein Westphalen Prize in Düsseldorf. In addition, he had a retrospective exhibition at the Houston Museum, Texas, where he showed «Abesti Gogora V», a 60-ton granite piece. He then took part in the Salon de Mai in Paris and exhibited his works in various parts of the world. Chillida’s works, which are seemingly attempting to conquer space, appear to be quite in tune with the paintings produced by Franz Kline or Pierre Soulages.


Exhibitions

1999 Galerie Biedermann Munich, Germany
1998 Galerie Biedermann Munich, Germany
1997 Tasende Gallery Los Angeles, CA
1995 Galerie Biedermann Munich, Germany
1992 Galerie Biedermann Munich, Germany
1990 , Hayward Gallery London, England
1989 Galerie Biedermann Munich, Germany
1985 Galerie Biedermann Munich, Germany
1985 Tasende Gallery La Jolla, CA
1984 Mary-Anne Martin/Fine Art New York,NY
1983 , Galerie Herbert Meyerellinger Frankfurt, Germany
1981 Galerie Beyeler Basel, Switzerland
1981 Museum of FIne Art Bilbao, Spain
1980 Ministry of Culture, Palacio de Cristal Madrid, Spain
1980 The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum New York, NY
1979 National Gallery Washington D.C., USA
1979 , Museum of Art Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
1977 , Galeria Iolas Velasco Madrid, Spain
1977 , Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts Harvard University, Boston, MA
1974 , Galerie d'Art Moderne Basel, Switzerland
1974 The Hastings Gallery, Spanish Institute New York, NY
1965 McRoberts and Tunnard Gallery London, England
1964 Galerie Maeght Paris, France
1961 Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas
1956 Galerie Maeght Paris, France
1954 Clan Gallery Madrid, Spain ...

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