Fernando Zóbel exhibit opens in National Gallery Singapore
National Gallery Singapore presents “Fernando Zóbel: Order is Essential,” the museum’s first-ever solo exhibition dedicated to transcontinental abstract artist Fernando Zóbel (1924-1984) and Singapore’s inaugural showcase of his work.
The exhibition, which opened May 9, features over 200 pieces including paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, and archival materials. It introduces Zóbel to new audiences, offering fresh insights into his multifaceted contributions as an artist, patron, collector, and scholar, and foregrounds his role in bridging cultural contexts and enriching global dialogues on modern art.
Zóbel was an avid traveler, a cosmopolitan thinker and writer, and a pioneering collector who formed two modern art museums in the Philippines and Spain, Ateneo Art Gallery in Manila and Museo de Arte Abstracto Español in Cuenca. Born in the Philippines to a prominent Spanish family, his lifelong, extensive interest in the world shaped his expressionist and abstract works in drawing, printmaking, painting, and photography.
The exhibition title “Order is Essential” is a quote from Zóbel on his artistic philosophy of how beauty and tranquillity emerge from order. This brings to light a surprising dimension of Zóbel’s practice of abstraction, revealing how he had a meticulous and controlled creative process that involved multiple iterations before finalizing his works. He is also well known for his signature method of using a syringe to control thin lines of paint—first featured in the artist’s Saeta series—a technique that became his defining contribution to modern art.
“Fernando Zóbel: Order is Essential” builds on “Zóbel: The Future of the Past,” which opened at Museo Nacional del Prado (2022) in Spain and was later restaged at the Ayala Museum (2024) in the Philippines. Expanding on key narratives, the Gallery’s distinct and fresh iteration introduces exclusive works and offers a unique perspective on Zóbel’s artistic evolution and transcontinental practice.
Patrick Flores, chief curator at National Gallery Singapore, and the project director and cocurator of the exhibit, says, “We are honored to present the first solo exhibition of Fernando Zóbel in Singapore, offering an expanded and dynamic narrative that situates this remarkable transcontinental artist as both a key figure in global modernism and a vital link across modernist traditions and art worlds. His work resonates with those who are drawn to art that transcends singular cultural boundaries and speaks to a broader human experience.”
“Fernando Zóbel: Order is Essential” runs until Nov. 30 at the Wu Guanzhong Gallery and Level 4 Gallery at National Gallery Singapore and is presented in close collaboration with Fundación Juan March and the Ayala Museum.
Visit nationalgallery.sg/OrderIsEssential.
