La Estocada Composición Taurina 1948

José Pedro Costigliolo made this painting of a bullfight, La Estocada Composición Taurina, with oil on canvas. It's a tightly composed design where simplified forms lock into each other like puzzle pieces. The texture is smooth, with flatly applied color, but it's easy to imagine him carefully mixing each hue, which adds to the fun. The whole thing feels very considered. I like the light blue because it breaks up the taupe and rust. Take a look at the way the red form curls around the black form at the center of the painting. The negative space between them makes a hard edged shape. It's not quite a square or a rectangle, but it helps to give the work its dynamic balance. It feels kind of architectural. Costigliolo's work is reminiscent of Torres-Garcia, who, like Costigliolo, explored geometric abstraction. It’s as though they’re in a conversation, bouncing ideas off each other across time and space. Art, you know, it’s not just about what you see; it’s about how you see it.