Eduardo Chillida counts among Spain's most important sculptors. At first Eduardo Chillida made smaller objects from clay and gypsum, in the early 1950s, presumably by taking recourse to his fellow countryman Julio González, he finally found the material that would become characteristic of his work for a long time: iron. At this point he also abandoned figuration and turned entirely to abstract sculpting. He made monumental plastics, which seem to overcome their heaviness through their apparently facile convex and concave forms. The subject of the anvil is among his central motifs, which Eduardo Chillida executed in many variations.
The work of Eduardo Chillida was honored with numerous exhibitions and awards as early as in the 1950s, further prizes, teaching assignments and exhibitions followed. Up until today they are proof of the multiple documenta participant's rank in international art. The Museum Chillida-Leku in the Basque town of Hernani gives an impressive overview of the artist's exceptional achievements.