Mercedes Lasarte is the new star painter exhibiting a collection of her works at Kempinski Hotel Bahia as part of the luxurious hotel’s Art Series 2022. Until the end of October 2022 the public is invited to discover an impressive range of Lasarte’s art pieces at the beach front hotel in Estepona. Mercedes pieces also form part of Baronesa Thyssen’s private collection as well as being on display at the Carmen Thyssen Muséum in Málaga.
Born in Argentina, Mercedes Lasarte moved to Boston in the United States in the 1960s before settling permanently in Los Angeles, where she studied at the University of California (UCLA) and Otis Parson’s Art School. Mercedes continued her education in fine arts, studying in depth the technique of the French Impressionists and German Expressionists, with Gauguin and Matisse becoming her favourite artists and creating a defining influence on the development of her painting technique. The application of colour on large, well-differentiated monochrome surfaces bears witness to this.     

This technique, “cloisonnism”, was adopted by some of Gauguin’s followers in the 19th century. Mercedes Lasarte’s colours convey a peaceful state of joy and well-being. Blues and greens intermingle with pastel yellows in a pleasant and harmonious symphony of colour, constituting a hypnotic image, a unique experience, an inexplicable desire, undoubtedly Mercedes Lasarte’s greatest source of inspiration.

Her works attracted the attention of Baroness Thyssen-Bornemisza, who has added many of them to her private collection. In 2021 a portrait of the Baroness was also added to the collection on display at the Carmen Thyssen Museum in Málaga.

“In the ’70s, I began to collect Mercedes Lasarte’s paintings. They are works that have always been very close to me and my way of life. Each painting reflects or has the essence of moments lived, and they all have their own history. It is a very personal collection that fills me with joy because of its energy and colour. For these reasons, I like to live with them,” stated Baroness Carmen Thyssen.

Mercedes has also painted portraits of many members of the Baroness’s family, including Baron Hains Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Baroness Carmen Thyssen Borja, Carmen, Sabina. She counts the Memmo Ruspoli family among her patrons of portraits. Countess Katrin Goess-Enzenberg and the Roemmes family