Baruj Salinas - Diagonal Fragment

Artwork Details

Artist: Baruj Salinas

Title: Diagonal Fragment 

Date: 1979

Medium: Watercolor, gouache, acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and graphite on canvas

Dimensions: 41 x 48 inches

Series: Language of the Clouds

Period: Barcelona Period

Category: Contemporary Cuban abstract painting

Style: Contemporary abstraction / Abstract Expressionism

Condition: Excellent

Authentication: Fully guaranteed by MLA Gallery

 

Diagonal Fragment   stands among the most exceptional remaining examples from Baruj Salinas’ celebrated Language of the Clouds series — the body of work that firmly established Salinas as one of the leading voices in postwar Latin American abstraction, contemporary Cuban art, and contemporary diasporic abstraction. Executed during the height of the artist’s renowned Barcelona period, this monumental mixed-media painting embodies the intellectual, poetic, and transcultural sophistication that came to define Salinas’ mature oeuvre and secure his enduring international reputation.

 

Created in 1979, during a particularly pivotal and creatively fertile moment in the artist’s career, Laced Arch reflects the profound convergence of influences that shaped Baruj Salinas’ singular aesthetic: the gestural lyricism of Abstract Expressionism, the meditative philosophies of European literary modernism, and the mystical symbolism that emerged through his close relationships with thinkers and writers including María Zambrano, José Ángel Valente, Michel Butor, and Pere Gimferrer. During these formative years in Spain, Salinas also deepened his artistic dialogue with Catalan masters including Joan Miró and Antoni Tàpies, further refining the atmospheric and metaphysical dimensions of his work.

 

This large-scale Baruj Salinas painting, measuring 41 x 48 inches, is executed in watercolor, gouache, acrylic, pastel, charcoal, and graphite on canvas — a richly layered combination of media that reveals the unique material sensitivity and technical sophistication of Salinas’ practice. Ethereal tonal gradations, veils of luminous whites and greys, gestural markings, symbolic forms, and enigmatic calligraphic structures emerge and dissolve across the surface with meditative precision, creating a visual field that is at once deeply introspective and universally resonant. The painting exemplifies the central conceptual framework of Language of the Clouds: a transcendent visual language that sought to move beyond literal communication into realms of contemplation, minimalism, spirituality, and poetic suggestion.

 

Salinas once described painting as an immersive act of concentration akin to meditation. This philosophy is palpably present throughout Laced Arch. Rather than functioning as pure formal abstraction, the work operates as a metaphysical environment: suspended between architecture and atmosphere, intellect and intuition, silence and revelation. The composition’s restrained chromatic vocabulary and layered symbolic structure place it among the strongest and most refined surviving examples from his highly sought-after Barcelona period — often considered a pinnacle of Salinas’ career and one of the defining moments in contemporary Cuban abstraction.

  

Museum-quality original works from Baruj Salinas’ Barcelona period — particularly major canvases from The Language of the Clouds — have become increasingly scarce and difficult to acquire as institutional recognition and scholarly reassessment of the artist continue to accelerate following his passing in 2024. In scale, quality, historical importance, and provenance, Laced Arch represents a rare opportunity to acquire a premier investment-grade flagship Baruj Salinas painting from the apex of the artist’s career and one of the defining achievements of international contemporary abstraction.

 

MLA Gallery fully guarantees the authenticity and provenance of this work in writing through its longstanding relationship with the Baruj Salinas Legacy Estate (BSLE).

 

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Historical & Institutional Significance

●      Important large-scale work from Baruj Salinas’ celebrated Language of the Clouds series

●      Created during the artist’s highly sought-after Barcelona period

●      Museum-caliber example of contemporary Cuban and Latin American abstraction

●      Reflects the influence of Abstract Expressionism, Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, and European literary modernism

●      Exceptional investment-grade work with strong institutional relevance and rarity

●      Representative of Salinas’ most internationally recognized and critically acclaimed body of work

Widely regarded as one of the premier Cuban contemporary masters of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Baruj Salinas exhibited internationally in more than 150 solo exhibitions and received numerous international awards over the course of his six-decade career. His work resides in the permanent collections of more than 35 museums and institutions worldwide, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Museo Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Museo del Barrio, Phoenix Art Museum, and San Antonio Museum of Art, among many others throughout Europe and the Americas. Reflecting the lasting impact of Salinas’ relationships with the leading artistic and intellectual figures of his generation, his work is also held in the permanent collections of the Fundació Joan Miró, the Fundación María Zambrano, and the Museo Rufino Tamayo.

Museum-quality original works from Baruj Salinas have become increasingly scarce and difficult to acquire as institutional recognition and scholarly reassessment of the artist continue to accelerate following his passing in 2024. In scale, quality, historical importance, and provenance.

MLA Gallery fully guarantees the authenticity and provenance of this work in writing through its longstanding relationship with the Baruj Salinas Legacy Estate (BSLE).

Historical & Artistic Significance

● Sophisticated large-scale work by Baruj Salinas

● Demonstrates the artist’s highly refined mature abstract style

● Explores movement, atmosphere, and emotional energy through pure abstraction

● Subtly references Salinas’ celebrated Barcelona-period aesthetics while remaining distinctly contemporary

● Reflects the artist’s internationally recognized contribution to postwar and contemporary abstraction

● Created during the period surrounding Salinas’ historic Torah Project commission and Vatican acquisition

● Museum-quality contemporary Cuban abstraction with strong institutional and collector relevance

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This is an excellent example of original Salinas works on canvas. The work is both stunning and profound. This work is watercolor, gouache, acrylic, pastel, charcoal and graphite on canvas. This painting is 41" x 48" and was done in 1981, a particularly rich period for this Cuban Master, as it reflects the great influences the Abstract Expressionists had on his work. 

Salinas has had over 150 solo shows worldwide. These are some of the museums which have Salinas work as part of their permanent collections, as well has having held major shows of his work.