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Artwork

St. Atomic 1948

Julio De Diego (1900-1979)

Tempera and oil on masonite

48" x 30"

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Images

Image of "St. Atomic" painting by artist Julio De Diego showing an abstract humanoid figure dressed in reds and purple with hands folded and resting on a shelf or table.

St Atomic (1948)
Oil and tempera on masonite, 48" x 30 ½" (framed 53 ½" x 36")
Signed and dated "de Diego 48" lower right. Inscribed with title verso.

 

Provenance: Private Collection (friend of the Artist)

 

Exhibitions: 1950 Contemporary American Painting University of Illinois at Urbana
1964 Marion Koogler McNay Art Institute, San Antonio, Texas

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Image of signature and date on "St. Atomic" painting by Julio De Diego.

Signed and dated "de Diego 48" lower right.

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Image of wooden frame of "St. Atomic" painting by Julio De Diego.

Original Frame
53 ½" x 36"

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Image of McNay Art Institute label verso on "St. Atomic" painting by Julio De Diego.

McNay Art Institute label verso.

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Image of pencil inscription on verso of "St. Atomic" painting by Julio De Diego.

Inscribed with title "St. Atomic" verso.

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Image of overall verso of "St. Atomic" painting by Julio De Diego.

Verso

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The Process

The Process


To execute these works, De Diego developed a technique of using tempera underpainting before applying layer upon layer of pigmented oil glazes. The result is paintings with surfaces which were described as “bonelike” in quality. The forms seem to float freely, creating a three-dimensional visual effect.

 In the 1954 book The Modern Renaissance in American Art, author Ralph Pearson summarizes the series as “a fantastic interpretation of a weighty theme. Perhaps it is well to let fantasy and irony appear to lighten the devastating impact. By inverse action, they may in fact increase its weight.”

Artist's Quote

“Scientists were working secretly to develop formidable powers taken from the mysterious depths of the earth - with the power to make the earth useless! Then, the EXPLOSION! . . . we entered the Atomic Age, and from there the neo-Atomic war begins. Explosions fell everywhere and man kept on fighting, discovering he could fight without flesh.” 

–Julio de Diego

St. Atomic | Caldwell Gallery

Art in America

Lester Burbank Bridaham looks at twenty years of Julio De Diego's artwork. Whatever the subject, De Diego creates his own worlds on a canvas. 

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