Argonauts

Author: Sofía Bassi

Title: Argonautas, ELC [En la Cárcel] (Argonauts, ELC [In Jail])

Date: 1969

Material: Oil on canvas and wood

Dimensions: 25.98 × 25.98 inches

Location: Private collection

Rights: Sofía Bassi Foundation

Argonauts was painted by Sofía Bassi shortly before her imprisonment. The image is contained within a circular frame that encloses the entire scene. Inside it, a curved, boat-like form moves across a dense, blue-green surface that suggests water in motion. The structure bends and folds, with sharp, fin-like projections rising along its back. The title refers to the Greek Argonauts, a group of travelers crossing the sea in search of a distant objective, a reference that frames the scene as a voyage.

Near the center, a small ovoid form floats above the water. In Bassi’s work, this shape appears repeatedly as an alchemical egg and is associated with movement across space, often taking the role of a vessel. A sword-like form hovers at the edge of the circle, slightly separated from the main scene. The circular boundary contains the image and isolates it from the surrounding darkness, giving the impression of a closed environment.