Guayasamín
Oswaldo Guayasamín Calero, was and still is a well-known Ecuadorian painter and sculptor. He was born on July 27th of 1919 and died on March 10th of 1999. He was the eldest son of 10 siblings.
Many considered Guayasamín El Picasso de America, but he was most recognized as the hand’s painter.
His art has been controversial. Guayasamín was a socialist, and he seems to focus his art on pain, illness, suffering, and famine. He has said that it was the time in, that he had to live, that made him paint all that.
At the time when he was an art student “the indiginismo,” was very popular. Representing social problems. And Guaysamín shows himself, in a way, as a dark artist. With his art pieces showing, pain, misery, desolation, anguish. And he carried this through his live as an artist.
His life at the beginning wasn’t easy. He came from a poor family, and at a young age suffer discrimination because of his last name more than his appearance. He based his paintings in wars; World War I, fascists holocausts, the Spanish war, World War II, and many more. Ironically he became a well known artist in the world, as Guayasamin.
His paintings show bones, flesh, skin, figures in desolation, and desperation. He based his emotions on the colors he used, for these paintings blue is a predominant color with strong lines. He painted Quito landscapes and, on those painting, we see red, orange, yellow, warmer colors although there aren’t many of these.
There is this famous piece of art called La Ternura that he dedicated it to his mother. To whom he had great affection and even said “as long as I live, I always remember you” the painting shows a mother and child.
He has a series of hand paintings in which there are; prayer hands, hands of anger, hands of protest, hands of hope, tenderness hands, hands of fear, hands of silence, hands of tears, hands of terror, insatiable hands, hands of meditation, and scream hands.
Among many paintings there are; the workers, the quarry, Páramo, the strike, the guitarist, the blessed, the drunks. Huacayñan comprising 100 paintings and 3 portraits. And The age of rage consists of 200 paintings. His Pieta de Avignon is on exhibition at the Louvre museum in Paris. He was an artist of expressionism.
Some of his most famous pieces of art are:
Los niños Muertos (the dead kids) at Madrid’s Barajas airport
La Capilla del hombre (Man’s church) in Fundación Guayasamín considered his masterpiece.
Series camino del llanto (series of crying road)
La edad de la ira (the age of anger)
La edad de la ternura (the age of tenderness)
His third self-portrait in the gallery of Degli Ufizzi Florence
We visited his museum in Quito; Fundación Guayasamín, in Bellavista neighborhood. This museum is where the artist lived. The property itself is impressive, the grounds have some of his sculpture, and there are beautiful arches throughout the entrance. In the interior of the house we can see the furniture, many objects, and pieces of decoration. All were left as he had it when alive.
The furniture in the house was all custom made. He enjoyed entertaining and many famous people were participants of these affairs. Guayasamín liked to collect the image of Christ, one can see them throughout the house, he shows some characteristics of Christ in his paintings. He also has some other religious pieces. There are huacos, and pottery on display.
With a tour guide one can access to the many areas in the house, the dining room, living room, his bedroom, and his study. Trough out the house we can find some of his paintings. After finishing the house tour, you encounter a shop where you can buy some of Guayasamín’s art.
Next, the tour guide took us to the Capilla del hombre (man’s church). La capilla del hombre was finished and open on 2002. This big project that he started but couldn’t finish is considered his masterpiece. Here again you can find paintings of suffering.
For us Guayasamin was a great artist, but he was immersed on one topic. Aside from La ternura (tenderness,) some paintings on Quito, and portraits. Everything else is very depressing, proper of his time, but we can’t help it to ask ourselves why didn’t he try to paint other themes? Maybe, because another theme wouldn’t be a Guayasamín.
Guayasamín in 1999 was honored the title of “Pintor de Iberoamerica” (Latín America Painter) and in 2011 was nominated “Patrimonio Cultural Iberoamericano” (Latín America cultural heritage)
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