Large Contemporary Signed on Canvas "La Desmemoriada" by Roberto Marquez

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Roberto Marquez – La Desmemoriada (1995)
(“The Forgetful Woman” in English)
There are paintings you hang on a wall… and … Read more Roberto Marquez – La Desmemoriada (1995)
(“The Forgetful Woman” in English)
There are paintings you hang on a wall… and then there are paintings that hang on you.
This large contemporary work by Roberto Marquez, titled La Desmemoriada — translated into English as “The Forgetful Woman” — is not merely observed; it is felt somewhere behind the ribs. It is memory half-remembered, emotion half-confessed, and longing pressed flat beneath glass.
At first glance, the composition strikes you with its bold geometry: a grid of vivid red polka dots marching across the surface like deliberate interruptions. They hover between viewer and subject, like stubborn thoughts that refuse to disperse. Behind this rhythmic constellation stands a solitary female figure, life-sized and vulnerable, her body wrapped in patterned transparency, her arms lifted as though touching invisible walls.
The palette is drenched in deep oxblood reds, smoky blacks, and umber shadows — colors that hum with tension. The red dots punctuate the space like warning lights, or perhaps like the fragments of memory themselves — vivid, insistent, impossible to ignore. They float between concealment and revelation, obscuring yet emphasizing her form.
Marquez’s brushwork reveals a painter deeply attuned to emotional texture. The surface appears layered, almost lacquered, with areas of gloss and matte interplay that create a sense of physical depth. The figure’s expression is inward — not pleading, not theatrical — but reflective. Her gaze drifts sideways, as if searching through recollections she cannot quite retrieve.
The black drapery cascading behind her reads like both wings and shadows. Is she emerging? Is she trapped? That ambiguity is precisely the point. La Desmemoriada speaks to the universal human condition: the fragile tension between what we remember and what we lose. The title suggests forgetfulness, but the painting suggests something more complex — selective memory, emotional amnesia, the quiet ache of things once known.
Large contemporary figurative paintings by Roberto Marquez are sought after for their psychological intensity and bold visual language. This piece commands space, not only in scale but in presence. It would anchor a modern interior, a curated gallery wall, or a serious contemporary art collection.
Stand before it long enough and you’ll begin to feel it — that strange sensation of almost remembering something important. And that, perhaps, is Marquez’s triumph. He has painted not just a woman, but the haunting architecture of memory itself.

Measures 51.5 x 51.5 x 1.75 frame (painting 48 x 48) See less