During the central years of the
20th century, European art underwent a significant transformation. Although
followers of European informalisms emphasized texture and irregularity, new
figurative languages emerged that configured an image
of contemporary man through new standards of expressive freedom.
Lucian Freud and Henry Moore
For the British, the human being became a central theme.
Lucian Freud, for example, stood out for his intensely realistic and detailed
representations of the human body. His paintings captured the vulnerability and
physicality of the human figure, revealing both the beauty and imperfections of
the body. Henry Moore, on the other hand, explored the human form through his
monumental and abstract sculptures, which often referred to organic and
primordial forms. Moore's works combined the figurative with a plastic language
that brought abstraction closer to matter, resulting in an innovative and
expressive synthesis.
Manuel Pereira da Silva
In Portugal, Manuel Pereira da Silva followed this trend. His
work combined the figurative with a plastic language close to the abstraction
of matter, creating a bridge between human representation and the abstract
exploration of materials. His sculptures captured the essence of the human form
while exploring new possibilities for plastic expression.
Francis Bacon and Alberto Giacometti
Other artists of this period were marked by a feeling of
pessimism and anxiety, caused by the crises of the two world wars. These
artists imposed a new sense of alienation from the body, representing it in
distorted and injured ways. Francis Bacon, for example, is known for his
depictions of inhuman and disturbing figures, who appear trapped in a state of
perpetual suffering. His works reflect a dark and hopeless view of the human
condition.
Alberto Giacometti, in turn, portrayed the human body in a
disintegrated manner, with his evanescent and long figures that seem on the
verge of dissolution. His slender and fragile sculptures capture a deep feeling
of alienation and hopelessness, symbolizing the fragility of human existence in
the face of the crises of the 20th century.
Post-war European figurative art is marked by a search for
new forms of expression that capture the human condition in its fullness.
Artists such as Lucian Freud, Henry Moore, Manuel Pereira da Silva, Francis
Bacon and Alberto Giacometti exemplify the diverse approaches and sensibilities
of this period. While some sought a synthesis between figurative and
abstraction, others explored alienation and human suffering, reflecting the
complexities and uncertainties of the post-war era.
