The Arrival of Spring

Author: Sofía Bassi

Title:La entrada de la primavera (The Arrival of Spring)

Date: 1967

Material: Oil on masonite

Dimensions: 46.9 × 34.3 inches

Location: Private collection

Rights: Sofía Bassi Foundation

The Arrival of Spring shows a dense forest interior, where a pale female figure appears among the trees. Her elongated neck and mask-like face emerge from a mass of blue and green forms that resemble flowers, water, or vapor. Her body disperses into the surrounding vegetation, extending into the same textures that shape the forest. The figure rises from the ground and blends into the foliage around her.

Sofía Bassi organizes the composition through distinct elements. A serpent winds at the base of a tree on the left. A pale, swan-like form rests near the ground. Roots spread across the lower half of the image, while small fragments, including a floating hand, appear within the foliage. Saturated greens and phosphorescent blues give the surface a charged intensity. Bassi also works with plastic automatism, visible in the fluid brushwork and in the forms that seem to grow and shift across the scene. The image presents spring as a moment of expansion, where the forest and the figure share the same process of transformation.