We would like to thank Anna Alfaro, responsible for the documentation and the archive of the estate of Andreu Alfaro, Godella (Valencia), for kindly providing additional information.

Private Collection, North Rhine-Westphalia (formerly received from the artist, thence by descent to the present owner)

Andreu Alfaro ranks among the most important Spanish sculptors of the 20th century. Building on an intensive engagement with abstraction, he developed an increasingly reduced, constructivist visual language from the 1960s onwards. Steel and aluminium became his preferred materials; through the serial repetition of geometric elements, his sculptures combine rigorous construction with a pronounced sense of movement, rhythm and space. In 1981, Alfaro was awarded Spain’s National Prize for Sculpture.
Germany occupies a particularly significant place in his international career. Alfaro was not only represented in numerous exhibitions throughout the country but also realised several important public artworks, including works in Nuremberg, Mainz and Frankfurt.
His presence is especially prominent in Cologne, where his monumental steel sculpture, installed in front of the Justice Centre on Luxemburger Straße in 1988, has become a distinctive landmark. Standing approximately ten metres tall, the work consists of a series of steel rods arranged in a fan-like formation that spreads upwards. Despite its rigid construction, the sculpture conveys a powerful sense of dynamic, upward movement. Its form and spatial impact change depending on the viewer’s vantage point.
The present work is directly related to this important Cologne sculpture and offers an opportunity to experience Alfaro’s characteristic formal concept on a particularly appealing scale. This unique piece was a personal gift from the artist and has remained in the same family collection ever since. It thus presents a rare opportunity to bring a piece of Alfaro’s remarkable artistic presence in Germany’s public spaces into a private collection and one’s own home. IS