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César Paternosto



b. 1931 La Plata, Argentina – lives in Segovia, Spain

After beginning his career working in an informalist mode, followed by a brief period of lyrical figuration, Paternosto first created artworks based on Geometric Abstraction in the early 1960s.  By the end of this decade, his formal and theoretical explorations led the artist to push beyond the very boundaries of the medium of painting.  Leaving the surface of the canvas blank, Paternosto shifted the emphasis of his artworks to their outer edges, converting his paintings into objects, and rebelling against the inherited tradition of only viewing paintings frontally.  Since this breakthrough, he has remained on the vanguard of abstraction in both New York, where he lived for over four decades, and Latin America. 

In addition to his career as a painter, Paternosto has studied Pre-Columbian art with academic rigor.  This expertise has  not only influenced his artistic practices, but has also led him to assume scholarly and curatorial roles, including the international exhibition, Abstraction: The Amerindian Paradigm. In 2005, the artist moved to Segovia, Spain, where, just a year prior, a major retrospective of his work had been on view at the Esteban Vicente Museum of Contemporary Art.  Paintings by Paternosto are found in various prestigious collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; the Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; the Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland; and the Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany, amongst others.  


Please click for CV and Chronology


Painting as Object: the Lateral Expansion. New Works.

Painting as Object: the Lateral Expansion. New Works.

Gallery exhibition catalogue with essay by Edward J. Sullivan; extensive illustrated chronology, 90 pages fully illustrated.

$ 20.00 + postage

White/Red

White/Red

This beautifully designed and printed catalogue of essays, large color plates, and illustrated chronology explores Paternosto's artistic contributions, influences and achievements over the last 4 decades.

Essays by Lucy R. Lippard, Ricardo Martín-Crosa & Toshiaki Minemura; printed on Fabriano paper by Lucini officina d'arte graffica, Milano, Italy; Hardcover, 24 color, 56 b&w illustrations, 144 pages

$35.00 + postage

The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art

The Stone and the Thread: Andean Roots of Abstract Art

Challenging the notion that abstraction is a development of the modern West, Paternosto reveals its deep roots as an indigenous American tradition and shows how that tradition reverberates in the work of twentieth-century artists... In this major, paradigm-shifting book... César Paternosto offers the first comprehensive analysis of ancient Andean art - textiles, pottery, stone sculpture, and the famous lines in the Nazca desert - into one coherent whole...

César Paternosto; 272 pages; In English, University of Texas Press, hardcover, 172 photographs and illustrations

$ 50.00 + postage

North and South Connected: An Abstraction of the Americas

North and South Connected: An Abstraction of the Americas

Catalogue of the 1998-99 gallery exhibition with a major essay by the artist and historian César Paternosto and the essay: Three Andean Tunics – Color and Geometry as Metaphor by Vanessa Drake & Andres Moraga. As reviewed by Holland Cotter in the New York Times, "... the show traces a line, or rather several lines, between pre-Columbian art and 20th-century American modernism, with some eye-opening results."

Cecilia de Torres, Ltd. 52 pages, 16 color plates, 42 black and white illustrations

$ 20.00 + postage

César Paternosto's Upcoming Exhibition César Paternosto's Upcoming Exhibition

We are pleased to announce César Paternosto's upcoming exhibition:

César Paternosto, Obras Recientes, Guillermo de Osma Galería, Madrid, Spain

Opening Reception: Tuesday, November 22, 2017, 7:30 PM

On view: November 22, 2017 to January 15, 2018

For more information, please click here.


César Paternosto's Exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum César Paternosto's Exhibition at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum

We are pleased to announce Cesar Paternosto's upcoming exhibition:

César Paternosto: Hacia una pintura objetual, El Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, Spain

Opening Reception: Monday, November 13, 12:30 pm

On view: November 13, 2017 to January 28, 2018

For more information, please click here.


César Paternosto's new exhibition César Paternosto's new exhibition

We are pleased to announce César Paternosto's new exhibition:

El silencio de las lineas, María Calcaterra Galería, Buenos Aires, Argentina, October 1st through December 1st, 2015

Opening Reception: October 1st, 2015, 7-9pm.

For more information about the exhibition, please contact María Calcaterra by clicking here.


César Paternosto exhibition at Galerie Denise Rene César Paternosto exhibition at Galerie Denise Rene

We are pleased to announce César Paternosto's exhibition:

Paternosto, Galerie Denise Rene-Rive Gauche, Paris, France

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 16, 2015, 7-9pm

For more information, please contact the gallery at info@deniserene.com


César Paternosto Exhibition Review César Paternosto Exhibition Review

We are pleased to share César Paternosto's Painting as Object exhibition reviews:

Claudio Iván Remeseira in Hispanic New York

Peter Frank in Huffington Post Arts & Culture