Alejandro Obregón facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alejandro Obregón
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Photographed by Guillermo Angulo.
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Alejandro Jesús Obregón Roses
4 June 1920 |
| Died | 11 April 1992 (aged 71) |
| Nationality | Spanish-Colombian |
| Known for | Painting |
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Notable work
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| Movement | Abstract, Surrealism, Cubism |
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Alejandro Jesús Obregón Rosės (born June 4, 1920 – died April 11, 1992) was a famous Colombian artist. He was known for his paintings, murals, sculptures, and engravings.
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Biography
Alejandro Obregón was born in Barcelona, Spain. His father was Colombian, and his mother was Catalan. His family owned a textile factory in Barranquilla, Colombia. Alejandro spent most of his childhood in Barranquilla and Liverpool, England.
After returning to Barranquilla, he decided to become an artist. In 1939, he studied fine arts in Boston for a year. Then he went back to Barcelona to work as Colombia's Vice-consul for four years. He married Ilva Rasch-Isla during his time in Spain.
In 1948, he became the Director of the School of Fine Arts in Santafé de Bogotá. There, he was inspired by the fresco style of artists like Pedro Nel Gómez. Later, he moved to France with his wife, Sonia Osorio. He later married his third wife, English painter Freda Sargent. After traveling around Europe, he returned to Barranquilla in 1955.
Obregón lived and worked in Cartagena for the last 22 years of his life. He passed away on April 11, 1992, due to a brain tumor.
Career Highlights
Obregón had his first art show in Colombia in 1945. His work quickly caught the attention of art critics. In 1945, he won first prize for his painting Dorso de mujer. He also had his second solo exhibition in February 1946.
That same year, he moved to Paris and showed his art in France, Germany, and Switzerland. He then lived near Avignon until 1955. In 1955, his painting Souvenir of Venice (1954) was bought by the Museum of Modern Art New York. This made Obregón one of the few Colombian artists in their collection. He won the Salón de Artistas Colombianos Prize in 1962.
Art Style and Themes
Obregón was mainly a painter. He often divided his paintings into two main parts. His style used bright colors and bold brushstrokes. He also used both clear and thick paint. He turned Colombian landscapes into geometric shapes and symbols. Obregón is a great example of abstract and Surrealist art in Latin America.
Color was very important in his art. It helped connect the shapes and express feelings. For example, the strong red color in El Velorio makes the painting feel dramatic.
Art critic Marta Traba noted some special things about Obregón's art. He used his own imagination and didn't just paint what he saw. He found inspiration in Colombia's nature, animals, and plants. His art often showed his love for his family and for women. His paintings reminded people of loyalty, friendship, and the wonder of life.
His still life paintings often included beautiful animals and plants. For example, Flor de mangle (1965) focused on a flower. Dos camaleones (1962) featured chameleons. In El último cóndor (1965), he painted a condor with purple feathers. This painting seemed to warn about the danger of animals becoming extinct.
Artistic Periods
From 1942 to 1946, Obregón was influenced by artists like Picasso. Between 1947 and 1957, he painted themes like mental hospitals and dogs, inspired by Goya and Picasso. He also saw the public protests of April 9, 1948. This event inspired his famous oil painting Violencia.
In his third period, from 1958 to 1965, Obregón traveled to Europe and the United States. During the 1960s, he created his own system of symbols and colors. He won a major award at the Ninth São Paulo Biennial for this unique style. After 1966, he started using acrylic paints instead of oils.
Artistic Influences
Obregón was inspired by European art, but he also used Colombian images. He often included guitars, bulls, and the Andean condor in his works. He painted his first condor in 1959. Since then, the condor appeared in almost fifty of his paintings. The condor is on Colombia's coat of arms, so it represents the nation. In Obregón's art, it also showed the strength of nature and the idea of freedom.
The use of guitars in his art might have come from Picasso's Cubism style.
Obregón also created art about political events in Colombia. For example, he painted about La Violencia, a period of social unrest that began in 1948. His painting Estudiante Muerto (Dead Student) won a national prize in 1956. It was part of a group of paintings that remembered students and leaders who died during this difficult time.
The "Big Five"
Alejandro Obregón is seen as a key artist in the new art movement of the 1950s in Colombia. During this time, Obregón, Enrique Grau, Fernando Botero, Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar, and Édgar Negret became known as the "Big Five" of Colombian art. In 1956, Obregón's painting Cattle Drowning in the Magdalena River won first prize at an exhibition in Houston, Texas. Other artists from the "Big Five" also had works in this show.
Art and "La Violencia"
Velorio (Wake), also called Estudiante fusilado (Executed Student), is one of Obregón's most important paintings about La Violencia. This painting shows his early interest in Cubism, where details are simplified into basic shapes.
Obregón painted this piece during a time of great social unrest in Colombia. He was one of the first Colombian artists to comment on these events. Velorio refers to a specific event on June 8 and 9, 1954. During this time, a student protest against the government led to many students being killed by the army. Obregón's painting was more abstract and expressive than other artists' works about the same event. His use of non-realistic colors and fragmented figures in El Velorio influenced other artists who wanted to show social and political issues in their art.
Murals
Obregón also created large murals.
- Tierra, mar y aire (Earth, Sea, and Wind) is a mural on the outside of the Mezrahi building in Barranquilla, Colombia. Obregón was asked to create this mural. He used a special and difficult method called mosaic. He glued many small pieces of ceramic tiles onto the wall. The mural covers the entire height of the three-story building. It measures about 9 meters (30 feet) tall and 6 meters (20 feet) wide. Obregón used bright colors and symbols that celebrate the tropical nature of the area.
- Cosas de aire (Air Things), created in 1970, was given to the Museo de Arte Moderno de Barranquilla in 2008. This mural is made with acrylic paint on cement. It is very large, measuring 16.5 meters (54 feet) by 9 meters (30 feet). It features bright, sweeping geometric patterns. This was the last of five murals Obregón painted in Barranquilla.
Exhibitions and Awards
- 1956 Cattle Drowning in the Magdelena River, Gulf Caribbean Competition, Houston, Texas. First prize.
- 1956 Estudiante muerto, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation International Exhibition. National prize.
- 1962 Salón de Artistas Colombianos.
- 1999 Arte y violencia en Colombia desde 1948, Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá, Colombia.
- 2009 50 Years, 50 Works: Art of Latin America, Caribbean of the 20th Century, Museo de Antioquia in Medellin, Colombia.
Selected Artworks
- Tierra, Mar, y Aire, 1957
- Estudiante Muerto, 1956
- Tropical Jardines, 1962
- Last Condor, 1965
- Torocondor
- Approaching Cyclone, 1960
- Carnivorous Flowers
- Huesos de mis bestias: el alcatraz, 1966
- Cosas de Aire, 1970
Images for kids
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Photographed by Guillermo Angulo.
See also
In Spanish: Alejandro Obregón para niños
