SANTIAGO CALATRAVA: Small Scale Works

reporter: Miguel Dominguez

Marlborough Gallery just signed architect Santiago Calatrava up for representation, and on April 24 his smaller scale works—sculptures of bronze, wood, and alabaster, and also ceramics and drawings—debuted at the Midtown gallery. This is his first representation by a major international gallery, although Calatrava has previously shown in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Spanish born Santiago Calatrava is a world-renowned architect, civil engineer, and sculptor, whose soaring and very organic structures have been compared to waves and wings. Having established his reputation by building bridges, Calatrava has embellished the skyline of cities around the world, with commissions that include a harp shaped rail bridge in Jerusalem; the Olympic Sports Complex in Athens; and airports, train stations, residential buildings, and art museums that look like waves, or as if they are about to take flight. In Spain, Calatrava designed a planetarium in the shape of an eye. The Milwaukee Art Museum forms an open wingspan. His first skyscraper, the Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden, is based on the contortions of the human spine.

Gallery President Pierre Levai with Calatrava

Marlborough president Pierre Levai commented: “His art is based on tension and equilibrium, as are his bridges.” “We have the feeling that the works are suspended,” a notion illustrated by one sculpture that balances on a deceptively light base of wood. 

Side  and front views

Alan Katz and wife pose with Santiago

Spanish born Santiago Calatrava is a world-renowned architect, civil engineer, and sculptor, whose soaring and very organic structures have been compared to waves and wings. Having established his reputation by building bridges, Calatrava has embellished the topography of cities around the world, with public commissions that include a harp shaped rail bridge in Jerusalem; the Olympic Sports Complex in Athens; and airports, train stations, residential buildings, and art museums that look like waves or as if they are about to take flight. In Spain, Calatrava designed a planetarium in the shape of an eye. The Milwaukee Art Museum forms an open wingspan. His first skyscraper, the Turning Torso in Malmö, Sweden, is based on the contortions of the human spine.

Barbara Camp is totally thrilled by Santiago's signature in her book

Frank Stella admiring some of Santiago's miniatures

Santiago with wife Rubertina

 Calatrava’s artwork has been recently exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (2005), the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (2012), and the Vatican Museum in Rome (2013). His work is part of a number of international public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Among his many international architectural projects, is the in-progress World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York. In 2015 he is planning to exhibit seven monumental sculptures along Park Avenue in New York City.

Awards

2010 - Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington
2005 - AIA Gold Medal, American Institute of Architects, Washington, D.C.
2004 - Gold Medal, Queen Sofia Spanish Institute, New York
2002 - The Sir Misha Black Medal, The Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom
2002 - Leonardo da Vince Medal , SEFI, Brussels, Belgium
2001 - Award for Excellence in Design, American Museum of Natural History, New York
2001 - ECCS European Steel Design Award, European Convention for Constructional Steel, Brussels, Belgium
1998 - Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres, Republic of France, Paris, France
1997 - Louis Vuitton- Moet Hennessy Art Prize, Louis Vuitton, Paris, France
1996 - Medalla de Oro al Merito de las Bellas Artes, Ministry of Culture, Grenada, Spain
1993 - Medalla de Honor al Fomento de la Invención, Fundación Garcia Cabrerizo, Madrid, Spain
1992 - Gold Medal, Institute of Structural Engineers (IStructE), London, United Kingdom
1990 - Médaille d’Argent de La Recherche et de la Technique, Fondation Académie d’Architecture, Paris, France
1988 - City of Barcelona Art Prize for the Bach de Roda- Felipe II Bridge, City of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
1988 - Fritz Schumacher Prize for Urbanism, Fritz Schumacher Architecture and Engineering, Hamburg, Germany
1988 - IASBE Award, International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering, Zurich, Switzerland

Avid Collectors Mr. & Mrs. Joel Schwartz

Mrs. Schwarts displays Calatrava drawing on her signed book

While Joel shows off a more elaborate drawing
on a different Calatrava book

Santiago with art consultant Marcia Gail Levine

Barbara Camp, Winfield Foreman III, and Gwenn Paness

To see more photos of this event, CLICK HERE