
LUIS TOMASELLO (1915-2014, Argentina/France)
“The shape gives rise to the color, which is transformed from vision into sensation; it is projected into space, where it tints the atmosphere, and becomes iridescent on touching the plane.”
Born to an Italian family in La Plata, a province of Buenos Aires, Luis Tomasello’s first work experience was with his father, as a bricklayer, carpenter, and painter. He began taking drawing classes in the evenings as a teenager and attended the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Prilidiano Pueyrredón in Buenos Aires from 1932 to 1938. Two years later, he enrolled at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes Ernesto de la Cárcova, where he studied until 1944. In the mid-1940s, young artists in Buenos Aires were challenging representational traditions in art; Tomasello met painters Emilio Pettoruti and Carmelo Arden Quin during this time, two important figures in the Argentine avant-garde.
In 1951, Tomasello traveled to Paris for the first time; he relocated permanently to Paris in 1957, joining a large and dynamic expatriate community of Latin American kinetic artists there. Many of these artists began making constructivist abstract work and then shifted to kinetic and optical art in the mid-1950s and early 1960s. Tomasello is internationally known for his Atmospheres chromoplastiques, in which he poses white cubes on a white background to engage with the colors of shadows and reflected light. As well as exhibiting extensively internationally, Tomasello has completed numerous large-scale public art commissions in Argentina, France, Mexico, and the United States. His Chromoplastic Mural (2011) is on view at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.
2017 | Luis Tomasello, Art Basel, The Mayor Gallery, Basel, Switzerland |
2014 | Luis Tomasello: Six Decades of Reflection, The Mayor Gallery, London, England. Borzo Modern & Contemporary Art, Amsterdam, Holland |
| Luis Tomasello, Artista de la Luz (1915-2014). Obras de la Colección del MACLA, Museu de Arte Contemporáneo Latinoamericano (MACLA), La Plata, Argentina |
2013 | Luis Tomasello: Celebrated Artist, Asaso Gallery, PINTA, London, England |
2012 | Luis Tomasello, Galeria Raquel Arnaud, São Paulo, Brazil |
| Luis Tomasello: Structure Visible et Couleur Réfléchie, Ascaso Gallery, Miami, FL, USA |
| Luis Tomasello: Vibrations de la Couleur, Galerie Argentine, Paris, France |
2011 | Luis Tomasello, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA |
2010 | Reflections on Tomasello, Mayor Gallery, London, UK |
| Luis Tomasello: La Luce Lavora Per Me, Kanalidarte Galleria d’arte Contemporanea, Brescia, Italy |
| Luis Tomasello, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Emilio A. Caraffa, Cordoba, Argentina. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Rosario (MACRO), Rosario, Argentina |
| Luis Tomasello, Artista de la Luz, Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes Rosa Galisteo de Rodríguez, Santa Fe, Argentina |
| Luis Tomasello and Alicia Penalba, Galería Hoy en el Arte, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
2009 | Luis Tomasello: Recent Work, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA |
| Luis Tomasello: Muestra Antologica, Centro Cultural Recoleta, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA |
| Luis Tomasello: La Sustancialidad Intrínsica de la Luz, Casa de las Américas, Galería Latinoamericana, La Havane, Cuba |
| James Harris Gallery, Seattle Washington, USA |
2007 | Luis Tomasello, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA |
| Luis Tomasello, Fundación Federico Klemm, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Academia Nacional de Bellas-Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
2005 | Luis Tomasello, Sicardi Gallery, Houston, TX, USA |
2004 | Muestra Antalógica de Luis Tomasello, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Latinoamericano (MACLA), La Plata, Argentina |
2003 | Luis Tomasello, Museo Nacional Neuquén, Neuquén, Argentina |
2002 | Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
2001 | Luis Tomasello, Objets et Atmosphères Chromoplastiques (1960-2000), Galerie Lavignes-Bastille, Paris, France |
| Luis Tomasello, Galerie Schoeller, Düsseldorf, Germany |
1997 | Retrospective, Homenaje a Julio Cortázar, Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
1996 | Luis Tomasello, Museum Haus Ludwing, Sarrelouis, Germany |
1995 | Luis Tomasello, Una Mano Enamorada, Galleria Civica – Palazzo Todeschini, Desenzano del Garda, Italy |
1994 | Luis Tomasello, Atmosfere Cromoplastiche oggi, Galleria Arte Struktura, Milan, Italy |
1992 | Luis Tomasello, Gallery K, Washington, D.C., USA |
| Tomasello, Reliefs, Galerie Convergence, Nantes, France |
1991 | Luis Tomasello, Rétrospective (1957-1990), Cercle Noroit, Arras, France |
1990 | Luis Tomasello, Œuvres Anciennes et Récentes, Galerie Carlhian, Paris, France |
| Galerie Schoeller, Düsseldorf, Germany |
1989 | Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba |
| Galería Casa Fernando Gordillo, Managua, Nicaragua |
1988 | Luis Tomasello, Œuvres Anciennes et Récentes, Galerie Carlhian, Paris, France |
1987 | Tomasello, La Galería, Quito, Ecuador |
| Tomasello, Galerie Simone Signoret, Villefontaine, France |
1986 | Retrospective (1957 – 1984),Sala Parpallo, Valencia, Spain; Palacio Municipal de Exposiciones Kiosco Alfonso, La Coruña, Spain; Museo de Bellas Artes, Pamplona, Spain |
1985 | Retrospective (1957–1984),Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid; Palau Solleric, Palma de Mallorca, Spain |
1984 | Luis R. Tomasello, Galerie Nouvelles Images, La Haye, Holland |
1983 | Tomasellos, Reliefs Récents, Galerie Maximilien Guiol, Paris, France |
| Di Teana et Tomasello, Espace Latino-Américain, Paris, France |
1981 | Tomasello, Cercle Noroit, Arras, France. Musée Réattu, Arles, France Galerie Christel, Stockholm, Sweden 1979 |
1980 | Galería Edurne, Pedraza, Spain |
| Galerie Nouvelles Images, The Hague, The Netherlands Galerie Interqua, Roermond, The Netherlands |
1978 | Luis Tomasello, Galerie Latzer, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland |
1977 | Tomasello, Vismara Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy Tomasello, opera recenti, Cesarea – Arte Contemporanea, Genova, Italy |
1976 | Tomasello, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris, France. Galerie d’art “Les Ateliers du Grand-Hornu”, Hornu, Belgium. Galerie Nouvelles Images, The Hague, The Netherlands. Galería Mestre Mateo, La Coruña, Spain |
1973 | Tomasello, recent works, Galerie Denise René, New York, NY, USA. Galerie Françoise Mayer, Brussels, Belgium |
1972 | Tomasello: Œvres Récentes, Galerie Denise René, Paris, France |
| Retrospective (1957-1972),Musée des Beaux Arts, Pau, France |
1971 | Galerie Denise René/Hans Meyer, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| Galleria del Cortile, Rome, Italy |
1969 | Luis Tomasello, David Hendricks Gallery, Dublin, Ireland |
1965 | Tomasello, Galerie Denise René, Paris, France |
1962 | Tomasello: Relieves, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Luis R. Tomasello, Galerie Denise René, Paris, France |
Arithmeum, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, USA
Atelier de Construction Electrique, Charleroi, Belgium
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL, USA
Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF), Paris, France
Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg, PA, USA
Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba
Celanese Corporation, New York, NY, USA
Centre Georges-Pompidou, Paris, France
Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Paris, France
Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO), Miami, FL, USA
Design Unit, Chicago, IL, USA
Fundació Stämpfli, Sitges, Spain
Fondo Nacional de las Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Fonds Régional d’Art Contemporain de l’Île-de-France, Le Plateau, France
Fundación César Manrique, Teguise, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
Fundación Pettoruti, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, The Netherlands
McCrory Corporation, New York, NY, USA
Mujez Suvremene Umjetnosti (MSU), Zagreb, Croatia
Musée d’Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne (MAC/VAL), Vitry-sur Seine, France
Musée d’Art et Industrie, Saint-Etienne, France
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris, France
Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne, France
Musée de Grenoble, Grenoble, France
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Pau, France
Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Musée Réattu, Arles, France
Museo Bolivar, Caracas, Venezuela
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Alicante, Spain
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Rosario, Rosario, Argentina
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Latino-Américano, La Plata, Argentina
Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museo de Arte Moderno Jesús Soto, Bolivar, Venezuela
Museo de Arte Moderno, Medellin, Colombia
Museo de Artes del Siglo XX, Medellin, Colombia
Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende, Santiago, Chile
Museo de Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain
Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain
Museo Jesús-Rafael Soto, Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes Neuquén, Neuquén, Argentina
Museo Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba
Museum des 20 Jahrhunderts, Vienna, Austria
Museum for Concrete Art, Ingolstadt, Germany
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), Houston, TX, USA
Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation, Vienna, Austria
Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch, Germany
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, USA
New York University, New York, NY, USA
Peter Stuyvesant Foundation, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Power Gallery of Contemporary Art, University of Sydney, Australia
Satoru Sato Art Museum, Tome, Japan
Städisches Museum Schloss Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Company, Houston, TX, USA
Tenerife Espacio de las Artes (TEA), Santa Cruz, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, USA