Enrique Tábara facts for kids

Luis Enrique Tábara (born February 21, 1930 – died January 25, 2021) was an amazing painter and teacher from Ecuador. He was a master of art who represented a big part of Hispanic art and culture.

Tábara was born in Guayaquil. He loved art from a young age and was already drawing regularly by the time he was six! His sister and mother really encouraged him. Enrique Tábara was always exploring new ideas and trying different ways to show images in his art. He was known for his energy and his spirit of trying new things as a teacher and artist.

Tábara was greatly inspired by the Constructivist Movement. This art style started around 1913 with Russian artist Vladimir Tatlin. It came to Europe and Latin America through painters like Joaquín Torres García from Uruguay and Manuel Rendón from Paris/Ecuador. These artists had a huge impact on many Latin American painters, including Tábara.

Tábara's Time in Barcelona

In 1946, Tábara went to the School of Fine Arts in Guayaquil. There, he learned from German artist Hans Michaelson and local artist Luis Martinez Serrano. By 1951, Tábara had learned all the basics and left art school. His early paintings often showed unusual characters and people from the edges of society in Guayaquil, along with some portraits. By 1953, Tábara started painting more abstract pictures, which means they didn't show real-life things but used shapes, colors, and lines.

In 1954, Tábara had his first art show in the United States at the Organization of American States (OAS) in Washington, D.C. The next year, the Ecuadorian government gave him a scholarship to study art in Barcelona, Spain. His art was very popular in Spain, and he even became friends with famous artists like André Breton (who was a leader of Surrealism) and Joan Miró.

By 1959, Tábara's art was getting attention from all over the world. André Breton even asked him to represent Spain in a special art show called Homage to Surrealism Exhibition. His work was shown alongside pieces by famous artists like Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, and Eugenio Granell. Miró loved Tábara's art so much that he gave Tábara one of his own original artworks, which Tábara kept as a treasure.

While living in Barcelona, Tábara also worked with other important Spanish artists like Antoni Tàpies and Antonio Saura. These artists were part of an art group called Dau-al-Set, which was started by a poet named Joan Brossa. This group was connected to Surrealism and Dadaism, and they wanted their art to connect with both conscious and unconscious thoughts. They were inspired by artists like Max Ernst, Paul Klee, and Joan Miró.

In 1963, Tábara represented Ecuador at a big art show in Paris, France, called the Third Biennial of Paris. By 1964, his art was being shown in many cities around the world, including Lausanne, Milan, Vienna, Lisbon, Munich, Barcelona, Madrid, Washington, New York, and Paris.

Coming Back to Ecuador

After living and painting in Europe for over nine years, Tábara felt that not enough was being done for modern Latin American art. So, in 1964, he returned to Ecuador to find a new style for his art. He reconnected with his roots by exploring "Ancestralism." This means he found inspiration in the ancient cultures that lived in Latin America before the Europeans arrived. Tábara was one of the first artists to use these old Pre-Columbian ideas to create a new kind of art.

Soon after returning, Tábara and another artist named Aníbal Villacís started an art group called VAN (Vanguardia Artística Nacional). This group was against the popular Indigenous Art Movement at the time. The name VAN had two meanings: it stood for "Vanguard" (meaning ahead of its time) and also sounded like the Spanish phrase "se van" (meaning "they are going"). This showed that the artists were moving away from the art styles that had been popular in Ecuador for many years. The VAN group wanted to find new artistic paths while still remembering their Pre-Columbian roots.

Patas-Patas Art

Eventually, Tábara started painting simple shapes inspired by nature, as well as other simple structures. This led to his most famous works, known as "Patas-Patas," which means "Feet-Feet." These paintings often include legs with feet as part of the artwork, along with insects and plants.

When people asked Tábara about his "Patas-Patas" style, he said that one day he was drawing a figure he didn't like. He ripped it up, and the feet of the figure landed right at his own feet! That's how he got the idea. Some art experts think that Tábara's use of feet might have been a subtle way to show a different idea from another famous Ecuadorian artist, Oswaldo Guayasamín, who was known for painting hands. In some of Tábara's "Patas-Patas" works, the legs are very clear and stand out. In others, they are more hidden within plants, bones, or abstract shapes.

Tábara was an artist who was always searching for new ideas and loved to experiment. He believed that artists should challenge themselves and solve those challenges on the canvas. Today, Tábara is seen as one of the most important artists of the last century and is considered a national treasure in Ecuador.

In 1988, Tábara received the Premio Eugenio Espejo. This is the most important national award in Ecuador for art, literature, and culture, given by the president. Tábara continued to paint with great energy in his hometown of Guayaquil, Ecuador. Barcelona, Spain, was also like a second home to him.

Awards and Medals

• 1960 Swiss Abstract Painting Prize, Lausanne, Switzerland.
• 1964 Second Prize Hall – October, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1967 First Prize Hall – July, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1967 First Prize Hall Vanguard, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1968 Medal of Artistic Merit, Municipality of Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1970 Gold Medal, First Hall Drawing, Watercolor and Tempera, House of the Culture, Quito, Ecuador.
• 1972 Second Prize of Contemporary Gallery, "Virgin Santísima M. of God".
• 1973 Gold Medal, 25 years of Painting Exhibition, School of Beautiful Arts, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1989 National Prize of Culture – Premio Eugenio Espejo – presented by the President of Ecuador.
• 1989 Second Prize, River Basin Biennial of International Painting – River Basin, Ecuador.
• 1994 Decoration for Artistic Merit in the Degree of Commander by the Ecuadorian Government.
• 1997 Gold Brush, Association of the Rocks, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1998 Medal for Cultural Merit (House of the Culture) Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1998 Medal of Honor from the National Congress for his 50th Anniversary as a professional artist.
• 1998 Decoration of the Museum Central Bank of Ecuador, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1998 Alfredo Palacio Prize (University of Guayaquil), Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 1999 Gold Brush, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
• 2007 Nominee for the Velázquez Prize of Plastic Arts 2007, presented by the King of Spain.

Images for kids

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  Tábara in his studio showing some of his Bocetos, 2005.

See also

In Spanish: Enrique Tábara para niños