Obituary: Gerardo Rueda

Self-taught artists possess a special spirit of curiosity and invention that often stays with them and manifests itself in even their most mature and sophisticated creations. Gerardo Rueda Salaberry, to give him his full name, intended to become a lawyer, and studied law in Madrid before suddenly deciding he wanted to be a painter. He began painting landscapes in an Impressionist style derived from the French masters he so much admired, but soon moved on to more contemporary styles, influenced by Klee and Nicolas de Stael, and had his first one-man show, "Collages y dibujos abstractos" ("Collages and abstract drawings"), in 1954 at the Madrid gallery Abril.

Before that he had participated in group exhibitions with contemporaries like Antoni Tapies, Manuel Millares and Manolo Rivera, exponents of abstract arte povera using cheap materials such as sack-cloth, plastic and pinboard.

Rueda's abstractions were usually refined, delicate, elegant expressions of his love of order, that still showed that "informal" quality of paint in keeping with a respect for "the obvious, the clear, the controlled".

He began exhibiting abroad, particularly in Latin America, that refuge of so many Spaniards during the Franco regime. He participated in the second Biennale Hispano-Americana in Havana in 1953, and in exhibitions in Caracas and Bogota. His affection for, and gratitude towards Latin America lasted all his life, and at the time of his death a large retrospective of his works, "Trayectos" ("Pathway"), is going the rounds of all the leading art museums of South America.

In 1960 Rueda's work was displayed at the Biennale in Venice, and while in Rome after the exhibition he became interested in the work of Giorgio Morandi and his near-abstract still-lifes. All through the Sixties his work was exhibited in the great galleries of Europe, in individual or group shows, and in 1962 he had a retrospective at the Tate Gallery in London.

His carefully constructed, perfectly balanced geometric assemblages were strengthened by the way he applied his paint, often with a bold palette, using a knife. He gradually freed himself from what might be perceived as over-rigid composition and, perhaps under the influence of Pierre Soulages and Yves Klein, released all his painterly energies in large monochrome works in various shades of grey, in black or royal blue. These were saved from monotony by accidental reliefs and various deliberate forms of surface animation, creating expanses of vital energy that occupied an almost sculptural space in the frame. This led to the creation of sculptures in wood or metal in the form of relief carvings during the 1970s.

Rueda never lost the playful, innocent spirit of the self-made artist, and on several occasions one could see him having fun with the mounting of window displays for important department stores like El Corte Ingles, and in 1991, out of a score of chosen contestants, he won first prize for the design of the entrance doors to the Spanish Pavilion at the Exposicion Universal in Seville, a monumental work that made his name and his art known to thousands of people who had never heard of him before.

But he is best known for a truly adventurous, unique architectural and artistic undertaking in the city of Cuenca where, with his friends and fellow artists Fernando Zobel and Gustavo Torner, he founded the first gallery of abstract art in Europe, housed in a visionary assemblage of casas colgadas or "hanging houses". No one who visits Cuenca can ever forget the liberating atmosphere of this unique museum and its exquisitely hung (in every sense) works of art, the most impressive collection of abstractions of all periods in Europe.

This was not the only public work Rueda undertook for Cuenca. Between 1990 and 1991, again possibly inspired by the work of Soulages and his semi-geometrical windows at Sainte-Foy abbey in Conques (Aveyron), Gerardo Rueda combined his passion for geometrical forms and sculpture and architecture in the construction of the noble windows of the cathedral of Cuenca, which remain for all to see as one of his major achievements.

In 1991 in Madrid Rueda participated in a collective exhibition, "El Prado visto per doce artistas contemporaneos" ("The Prado Viewed by Twelve Contemporary Artists"), which brought an unusual breath of visionary self- expression to the contemplation of that great museum's most celebrated works. The exhibition went on to Seville the following year, and in 1992 Rueda also showed a personal collection at the Fourth El Cairo Biennale, during which he was awarded the Medalla de Honor Especial. This was just one of the many distinguished awards presented to the artist during his lifetime, culminating in 1995 with his election as permanent member of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.

It was in March 1996 that Gerardo Rueda had the first of three cerebral attacks, when he attended in Valencia an anthology of his works organised by IVAM (Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno), which he declared open by saying: "I always have to have direct contact with art, to bring myself to it without any intermediaries of schools or theories." That was the young self-taught beginner speaking out frankly, just as he used to do when telling anyone who would listen that he did not understand Dubuffet or Matisse. "My art is all in the emotion," he said.

James Kirkup

Gerardo Rueda Salaberry, painter and sculptor: born Madrid 23 April 1926; died Madrid 25 May 1996.