Paloma - Carlos Alonso, 1972

Description

Carlos Alonso
Paloma, 1972

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In Paloma, Carlos Alonso portrays his daughter in a composition defined by her direct gaze and intense expression. The precisely rendered face contrasts with the freer lines of the hair and body, which extend and overlap across the paper.

Softly blended charcoal areas are balanced by more sharply defined strokes, creating a dialogue between observation, intimacy, and graphic economy. Dated 1972, the work reveals the expressive power of portraiture within Alonso’s works on paper.

Created five years before Paloma Alonso was abducted and forcibly disappeared on July 30, 1977, during Argentina’s last military dictatorship, the work carries particular historical and personal significance. Her disappearance profoundly shaped Alonso’s life and later artistic production, in which memory, absence, and violence became central themes. This portrait preserves an image of Paloma from a time before that tragedy.

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Medium: charcoal on paper
Year: 1972
Dimensions: 100 × 60 cm
Signature and date: signed and dated “1972” at lower right
Presentation: framed
Provenance: private collection