Ernesto Deira facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ernesto Deira
(l-r) Luis Felipe Noé, Jorge de la Vega, Luis Seoane, Hugo Parpagnoli and Ernesto Deira, in Bar Moderno (1962).
Born	(1928-07-26)July 26, 1928 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died	July 1, 1986(1986-07-01) (aged 57) Paris, France
Education	Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires
Known for	Drawing and Painting
Movement	Neofiguration

Ernesto Deira (born July 26, 1928 – died July 1, 1986) was an important artist from Argentina. He was part of a group called Nueva Figuración, which means "New Figuration." This art movement was popular in Latin America.

Deira and his fellow artists wanted to bring back figurative art. This means art that shows real objects or people. They did not like abstract art, which uses shapes and colors that don't look like anything real. They also wanted to move away from old, traditional ways of painting.

Ernesto Deira's art style was very strong and full of emotion. He often used lines and sometimes created figures that looked a bit strange or unusual. Before becoming an artist, Deira studied law at the University of Buenos Aires. In the 1950s, he learned art from teachers like Leopoldo Torres Agüero and Leopoldo Presas.

In 1961, he joined other artists like Jorge de la Vega, Rómulo Macció, and Luis Felipe Noé. They had an art show called "Otra Figuración" (Another Figuration). After this show, they formed a group with the same name. They shared a studio and showed their art together until 1966. Later, Ernesto Deira moved to Paris, France, where he passed away in 1986.

Ernesto Deira's Art Career

Ernesto Deira studied at the National College of Buenos Aires. Later, he explored different art styles like pop art and expressionism. He also used a style called informalism. He combined these ideas to create his own unique way of painting. It was a mix between showing real things and using abstract shapes.

With this special style, he painted about many different topics. These included war, love, and old stories (mythology). His paintings were full of feeling and often made people think. Deira worked through many art movements that came after World War II.

Deira was a founder of the Argentinian art group called Otra Figuración. This group started in 1961. The other founding artists were Jorge De La Vega, Rómulo Macció, and Luis Felipe Noé. A main goal of the group was to bring back figurative art to Argentina. The artists of Otra Figuración believed they lived in a shared society. They felt that to make great art, an artist had to look deep inside themselves.

While with Otra Figuración, Deira and the other artists used free brushstrokes. They also used drip techniques, where paint is allowed to drip onto the canvas. They mixed different methods to create their art. Their work often looked dreamlike (surreal) and full of strong feelings (expressionistic). The artists also used abstract shapes, bright colors, and different materials in their artwork.

Deira's Unique Painting Style

By his second art show in 1961, Deira was creating paintings with a very expressive style. He painted portraits of figures that sometimes looked a bit twisted or changed. In his paintings, the number of figures could be different. Some had just one person or head. Others had two, and some had even larger groups.

Often, these figures looked only a little bit human. They seemed to be moving, but not in a clear or normal way. In his expressive paintings, Deira used a lot of strong colors. These included red, black, blue, and yellow.

For example, in his painting Segundo Angel (Second Angel), he painted a large figure. He used a lot of bright red paint, applied freely with his brush. He used thick brushstrokes for both the background and the figure's body. It looked like he painted with quick, strong movements of his hand and wrist.

In his painting, The Roads to Freedom, Deira showed human life through his art. He did this by layering splashes of paint. He also used thick brushstrokes and dripping colors. His thick brushstrokes helped to catch the viewer's eye. In another painting, We Have to Escape Reality, Deira painted a figure in the middle. It was painted in white with blue shadows. The figure's face looked serious, maybe even angry. Around a black square, Deira wrote Spanish words in a flowing, cursive style. He used different colors like blue, red, and yellow for the words.

The "Identifications" Series

In 1971, Ernesto Deira created a group of seven paintings. He called this series "Identifications." These paintings showed sad political events happening around the world. They reflected problems in Latin America, Vietnam, and Bangladesh.

This series was part of an art show in Chile. This was around the time a military government took power there in 1973. To keep the paintings safe, they were hidden. For many years, no one knew where the seven paintings were. But in October 2020, with help from Interpol, the paintings were found. The next month, they were safely returned to Argentina.

Artworks by Ernesto Deira

• Caronte, 1985, acrylic on fabric, 200 x 160 cm, Museo Ralli Marbella, Malaga, Spain
• We Have to Escape from Reality, 1968, oil on canvas, 195 x 130 cm.
• Metonimia, 1967, oil on canvas, 160 x 160 cm, Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires
• Untitled, 1967, colored ink on paper, 48 x 68 cm, Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires
• No. 1623, 1966, oil on canvas, 162.2 x 130.5 cm, Rhode Island School of Design
• Untitled, 1966.
• Adan y Eva N° 2 (Adam and Eve #2), 1963, oil and synthetic glaze on canvas, 78 x 58 cm
• Untitled, 1963, ink on paper 32 x 47.9 cm, Museum of Modern Art, NY
• La Viuda (The Widow), 1962, oil on canvas, 147.5 x 115 cm, Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires
• Otra Figuración (Other Figuration), 1961, print on paper, 23.4 x 22.7 cm.
• Untitled, 1960, oil on canvas, 90 x 70cm.
• Portrait, oil on canvas 80 x 64.8 cm.

Exhibitions

• 2009 - “MoMA at El Museo: Latin American and Caribbean Art from the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art,” Museum of Modern Art.
• 2007, “Ernesto Deira: Retrospective,” Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, November 29, 2007, February 18, 2008
• 1965, Deira, Maccio, Noé, de la Vega. Pinturas, Galería Bonino
• 1963, Deira, Maccio, Noé, de la Vega, Mueso Nacional de Bellas Artes
• 1962, Deira, Maccio, Noé, de la Vega. Segunda Parte, Galería Bonino
• 1961, Otra Figuración, Galería Peuser
• 1958, Solo exhibition, Galeria Rubbers

See also

In Spanish: Ernesto Deira para niños