Milián’s Scope*
Brief work that by Raúl Milián, but assisted of an intensity of spirit that does not need to be substantial to define itself, to show itself with self-satisfaction (…).
He did not deal with painting; it might have seem too pompous for his purpose, excessive in front of the full identity of his drawings. (…)
Milián, in his peculiarity, showed a period of splendor between the initial years of his artistic practice, 1951 to 1953, as if his irruption in the field of plastic arts already contained all the energy of his creative talent. And the following years, 1954 and 1955, forebode in his last works an irreversible decline of his excellence. From the calligraphic abstraction predominant in the first stage − rich in stains and the trail of inks − he went to another where more attention was paid to figurative registers. But the abstract canon of space organization in the painting would be constant in his work, whether including human figures or not…
The end of his spontaneous artistic career would denote a strange change of mood, as if the gouaches and inkings characteristic of his style were disturbed by an emerging impatience, empty of the containment and restraint so suitable in his expression. (…)
*Words in the presentation of the exhibition Raúl Milián: espacio mínimo (Raúl Milián: Minimum Space), Cuban Art Building, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, May 30 – June 30, 2014.
