Page 41 - Studio International - June 1965

Chillida

4
5

says, are in the spirit of the sculpture but are never pre­
paratory sketches; the two dimensional problems they
pose are different and less exacting. They will. however.
afford a great deal of sheer delight, and express. at
perhaps an easier and simpler level. many of the facets of
Chillida the man and artist. The black ink drawings, and
the marble inlays group or crowd together heavy bold,
black bands which flow on to the white area. so to
speak. as part of a ceaseless. thrusting, searching linear
flood. The collages are altogether quieter, more con­
structive in mood, closely related to the wooden
sculptures and their Cubist origins. They are made from
papers prepared by the artist. delicately tinted in black
and brown.
In the graphics there is echoed the precise. elegant,
'oriental' quietism to which I referred earlier. And. also.
in all his work there is something of the finely controlled
balance one finds in the best of de Stael. Underlying the
powerful harmony one is also aware of a tenseness. a
kind of tightrope of judgement and sensibility. De Stael
tragically lost his balance; Chillida seems to have
reserves of strength. perhaps from the security of
unbroken roots. ■
255