Manolo Millares

“[The artist] is the only man, the world, a recorder of things in the raw ... He follows very closely the despair of our time, watches over it and sews"

- Manolo Millares

Manolo Millares was a Spanish artist renowned for his significant contributions to the art movement known as Informalism. Inspired by the tragic history of the Spanish Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Millares channeled his emotions and experiences into his work. He developed a distinctive artistic language characterized by his powerful, textured canvases, often incorporating materials like burlap, ropes, and tar. Millares' art captured the essence of human suffering and the brutality of war, conveying a sense of anguish and vulnerability. His impactful creations not only challenged the traditional conventions of art but also symbolized the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. Millares left an indelible mark on the art world and continues to be recognized as a pioneering figure in Spanish contemporary art.

Manolo Millares (Las Palmas, 1928 – Madrid, 1972) was a self-taught Spanish artist who, after an initial stage marked by considerable interest in archaeology and surrealism, adopted his own style characterized by the use of burlap —an evocation of the fabric in which the Guanche mummies were wrapped in the Canary Islands— and an artistic language which alternated tormented, lyrical and gestural moments.

He was the main promoter of the LADAC (The Archers of Contemporary Art), which held the first exhibition in the Canarian Museum of Las Palmas (1950). His first solo exhibition in the peninsula took place in the Galeries Jardí of Barcelona in 1951, the year in which he exhibited at the 1^st Biennial of Hispano-American Art in Madrid. In 1953, he moved to Madrid and also participated in the 2^nd Biennial of Hispano-American Art in Havana. He was a cofounding member of the El Paso group in 1957, which defended the opening up of Franco’s Spain in the international sphere. He participated in the São Paulo Biennial in 1957 (at which the MoMA acquired one of the artist’s works) and in the Venice Biennial in 1958. 1960 was a key year in his career, since he participated in the three major exhibitions scheduled in New York City: New Spanish Painting and Sculpture at the MoMA, Before Picasso; After Miró at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Four Spanish Painters: Millares, Canogar, Rivera, Saura at the Pierre Matisse Gallery. In that same year, he had solo exhibitions also at the Pierre Matisse and at the Daniel Cordier gallery in Paris, his gallerists in the USA and in Europe.

With consolidated international recognition, from 1960 to 1972 he used burlap as the central element of his composition, basically using the colours black, red and white. Burlap became the expression of existential anguish and his work was a reflection of human brutality and the both physical and psychological wounds caused by the wars experienced in Europe during the last century.

His works form part of major collections and international museums.