Oswaldo Vigas


Oswaldo Vigas was a Venezuelan artist, best known as a painter and muralist. His work includes painting, sculpture, prints, drawings, ceramics and tapestries. His artwork was created between France and Venezuela, and it's an original synthesis of the cultural roots of Latin America and the latest artistic currents of modernity. He has had over one hundred solo exhibitions and is represented in numerous public institutions and private collections around the world. He is predominantly recognized as a self-taught artist and painter.

Early life and education

Oswaldo Vigas was born in Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela in August 4, 1926. He identified as mestizo, a term for a person of mixed indigenous and Spanish heritage. He started painting at age 12 when his father died, mostly paintings featuring the human body.
He went to college and studied medicine at the University of the Andes and at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas, hoping to be a pediatrician. He received a degree in 1951. While studying, he took several art classes at the Taller Libre de Artes, and attended the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Cristóbal Rojas, where he became acquainted with painters like Manuel Cabré and Pedro Ángel González, among others.
His early paintings focus on the human figure – mostly a female figure – pre-announcing the theme that would remain a constant throughout his career: the witches. His works became gestural and he took an interest in pre-Columbian cultures and pottery, specifically Venus de Tacarigua figurines. Progressively, he departed from conventional depictions as his line became visceral and concerned with pre-Columbian representation, which would marked a milestone in his works.
The witch series of paintings was very controversial and polarizing, they won him three important art prizes in Venezuela. In 1952 he received the National Visual Arts Award for his painting La gran bruja and had a major solo exhibition at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Caracas. One of these prize granted him a plane ticket to Paris, where he relocated the same year, in 1952.

Work

Paris

When Vigas arrived in Paris he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and took open courses at the Sorbonne. While in Paris, he was commissioned to produce five mosaic murals that were to become part of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, declared a World Heritage Cultural Site by UNESCO in 2000, a great example of the total integration of art and architecture, conceived by Architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva que el artista realizó en París., with the participation of national and international artists such as Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Wifredo Lam, Fernand Léger, Mateo Manaure, Alejandro Otero, Víctor Valera, and Victor Vasarely, among others.
During most of the 1950s, his works shifted away from the human figure towards constructivism and abstraction. In 1953, he participated in the I São Paulo Biennial and in a group show at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, among other exhibitions. Between 1953 and 1958, the artist exhibited regularly in France and Venezuela. In 1954, he represented Venezuela at the XXVII Venice Biennale, and was part of the Painters of Venezuela traveling exhibition at the Pan-American Union, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.
During the late 1950s to mid 1960s, while still living in France, Vigas was invited to participate at an important survey about Latin American art in which he was awarded first prize: the Gulf-Caribbean Art Exhibition, curated by Lee Malone at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This exhibition traveled later to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; The Munson-Williams Proctor Institute, Utica, The Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. Also, he had exhibitions at the Slater Memorial Museum of Norwich, Connecticut and the University of Nebraska Art Gallery, and participated in the Contemporary Drawings from Latin America show at the Pan-American Union in Washington, D.C. He was included in another large survey exhibition, South American Art Today, curated by José Gómez Sicre at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Well versed in anthropology and primitive cultures, influenced by a visit to Picasso in 1955, Vigas channeled his works of the 1950s into a search for an authentic language, combining gestural, geometric and figurative paintings that led him progressively to reveal his connection with early cultures, and for the notion of a personal identity marked by telluric, magical and personal imaginative resources found in his works from the 1960s onward.
He lived in Paris for twelve years and made many friends including Fernand Léger, Max Ernst, Wifredo Lam, and it's where he met Janine, his French born wife and lifelong companion. In 1964 he moved back to Valencia, Venezuela, along with Janine, and continued to exhibit his work thoroughly throughout the country. In 1967, his son Lorenzo was born, and in 1970, he relocated to Caracas.

Venezuela

The 1960s marked the artist’s informalist period; his thick black lines dissolved the figure into abstract volumes and shapes. Soon after his arrival in Venezuela, he was named Cultural Director of the Universidad de Los Andes. Without relinquishing his unstoppable work as an artist, he accepted an appointment as Artistic Director of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura y Bellas Artes, promoting the work of artists and exhibitions, as well as contributing to the creation of national Salons and awards to help artists from around the country. He remained in office until 1972.
From the mid 60’s onwards, Vigas work progressively shifted back from informalism to a new figurative phase, in which abstract shapes began to look like figures once again. In 1976, he was part of the group show Latin Excellence Contemporary Hispanic Art, Xerox Corporation Center, New York, along with Matta, Canogar, Orozco, and others. In the 1980s, he participated in the Chicago International Art Exhibition, Navy Pier, Chicago; Venezuelan Art Today, 350 Years, traveling to Boston, Washington and New York; 30 artistas andinos latinoamericanos, at the Pittsburgh Museum, and The Latin American Graphic Arts Biennial, at the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art in New York. Also during the 1980s, Vigas produced a series of tapestries and ceramic works, and his first bronze-cast sculptures.
In 1990, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber organized a major retrospective of his works, showcasing not only paintings and sculptures but also tapestries, ceramics and jewelry. Lagoven, the oil company and subsidiary of PDVSA, produced a documentary film about his work.
In 1992 the city of Monte Carlo honored him with the Prince Rainier Grand Prize, and the Monnaie de Paris, organized a large retrospective, Oswaldo Vigas, from 1952 to 1993, showcasing one hundred and thirty two works comprising paintings, ceramics and sculptures.
During his later years, Vigas continued to work and exhibit worldwide, gaining further international recognition. In 2012 he was invited to participate in the Un Coeur, un Monde group show that traveled through France, the United States, Vietnam, Australia, Brazil and Japan. He was also invited to exhibit at The Latin American & Caribbean Contemporary Art Today survey at the Miura Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan. Oswaldo Vigas was one of the most prominent and prolific artists of his generation in Venezuela.
In 2008, he was designated Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France.

Death and legacy

Vigas died on 22 April 2014 in Caracas, aged 87. His wife Janine Vigas and his son Lorenzo, survive him.
The Oswaldo Vigas Foundation was created to continue to expand his art legacy worldwide. A major anthological exhibition travelled throughout the Americas to Peru, Chile, and Colombia, titled Oswaldo Vigas Anthological 1943- 2013.

Controversy

Many decades of Vigas work feature a clear influence from indigenous art of South America and Venus de Tacarigua figurines, it has been questioned if this work is a body of abstraction or rather cultural appropriation. This issue is similar to Picasso's African Period and the use of African masks in his work.

Awards and honors

He received a Doctor Honoris Causa degree from the Universidad de Los Andes in 1999, and from the Universidad Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho, in Barcelona, Venezuela.
Vigas received the International Association of Art Critics Award twice, in 2008 and 2014; in 2004, he was the recipient of the Latin Union Award in Washington, DC.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

A major anthological exhibition of Vigas' work traveled throughout the Americas. The first installment of Oswaldo Vigas Anthological: 1943- 2013 was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lima, Peru; the show then traveled to the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago, Chile, and it will open in Bogotá, Colombia in July 2015.
This is a listing of select exhibitions of Vigas.
YearTitleLocationNotes
2019Oswaldo Vigas: TransformationsTampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, United States
2018Oswaldo Vigas: TransformationsGrand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
2016Oswaldo Vigas Antológica 1943–2013Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
2015Oswaldo Vigas Antológica 1943–2013Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile
2015Donación Oswaldo VigasMuseo Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France
2014Oswaldo Vigas: transfigurationsDillon Gallery, New York, New York, United States
2014Homenaje a Oswaldo VigasGalería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela
2014Oswaldo Vigas Antológica 1943–2013, Lima, Peru
2014Oswaldo Vigas Antológica 1943–2013Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá, ColombiaThis was the first location of the traveling exhibition.
2012El dibujo en la obra de Oswaldo Vigas, 1940-2012Gabinete del Dibujo y la Estampa de Valencia, Venezuela.Retrospective exhibition that included 100 works.
2012Feria Iberoamericana de Arte de Caracas, FIA 2012Galería de Arte Ascaso, Galería Medicci and 700 Arte of Maracaibo.
2012Exposición de arte iberoamericanoMadrid, SpainExhibition to mark of the celebration of the two hundred years of the establishment of the Supreme Court of Spain.
2011Oswaldo Vigas. Mérida, Paris, Caracas. PeinturesCentre d´Art Villa Tamaris, La Seyne-sur-mer, FranceRetrospective exhibition that included 170 works.
2011Feria Iberoamericana de Arte de Caracas, FIA 2011Galería de Arte Ascaso and Galería Medicci
2010Oswaldo Vigas. De brujas a curanderasParque Fernando Peñalver, Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela
2009Mujeres, mujeres y mujeres, Alianza Francesa based in La CastellanaCaracas, Venezuela
2009Oswaldo Vigas en InterValoresInterValores, Chacao, Caracas, Venezuela
2007Oswaldo Vigas: pasión por la creación, Galería Corporación Andina de Fomento, Caracas, Venezuela
2007Tierra y fuegoFundación Banco Provincial, Caracas, Venezuela
2005Oswaldo Vigas: grabados recientesFrench Alliance, Caracas, Venezuela
2005Oswaldo Vigas: sortilèges des tropiquesMuseo Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France
2004Ideografías de Paris, 1952-1957, Oswaldo VigasMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela
2003Oswaldo Vigas, recuerdos del presenteGalería de Arte Ascaso, Caracas, Venezuela
2002Ideografías de Paris, 1952-1957, Oswaldo VigasTenji Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2002Ideografías de Paris, 1952-1957, Oswaldo VigasMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber, Caracas, Venezuela
1998Oswaldo Vigas, painting and sculptureAldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago, USA
1997Vigas en MaracaiboGalería 700 Arte, Maracaibo, Venezuela
1997Oswaldo Vigas. Obras clave de 1952 a 1997Comandancia General de la Aviación, Caracas, Venezuelatribute of the Venezuelan Air Force to Oswaldo Vigas
1996Oswaldo Vigas, un hombre americanoCasa de Las Américas, Havana, Cuba
1995Oswaldo Vigas. Mutants, pélélés, contorsionnistes et autres zigotosGalerie La Tour des Cardinaux, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France
1995Oswaldo Vigas. La obra recienteGrupo Li-Centro de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela
1993Vigas, de 1952 a 1993Museum Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France
1993Oswaldo Vigas, la obra recienteGrupo Li-Centro de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela
1990Retrospectiva Vigas: lo figurativo y lo telúricoMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber, Caracas, Venezuela
1989CeremonialesCentro Armitano Arte, Caracas, Venezuela
1987Paisajes andinos, with Marius SznajdermanGalería Los Espacios Cálidos, Ateneo de Caracas, Venezuela
1981Tapicería de Oswaldo VigasMuseo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
1979Antológica Ritos elementales, dioses oscurosInstituto de Arte Panameño, Panama
1979Antológica Ritos elementales, dioses oscurosGalería de Arte Nacional, Caracas Venezuela
1977Oswaldo Vigas, imagen de una identidad expresivaGalería del Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Museo de Arte Italiano, Lima, Peru
1973Retrospectiva Oswaldo Vigas: 1943-1973,Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia
1970MitificacionesFundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela
1970TapiceríasGalería Antañona, Caracas, Venezuela
1967Venezuelan witchesGalería del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, Washington, DC, United States
1967Vigas: pinturas 1965-1967Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela
1966Retrospectiva Las brujas, árbol genealógico: 1941-1952Galería 22, Caracas, Venezuela
1964Oswaldo Vigas: pinturas de los años 1960-1964Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela
1964Vigas: grabados, dibujos, gouachesAteneo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela
1964Oswaldo Vigas: retrospectiva: 1941-1964Ateneo de Valencia, Valencia, Venezuela
1963VigasGalería Neufville, Paris, France
1961Vigas, peintures recéntesGalerie La Roue, Paris, France
1958Oswaldo Vigas of VenezuelaPan American Union, Washington, DC, United States
1958Blancos y negrosFundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela
1957Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain
1957Oswaldo Vigas: 1953-1957Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela
1956Blanc et noirGalería La Roue, Paris, Francelarge-format drawings were on display
1952Retrospectiva Oswaldo Vigas: 1946-1952Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
1942Ateneo de ValenciaValencia, Venezuelafirst painting exhibition.

Group exhibitions

YearTitleLocationNotes
2013Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas : síntesis de las artes mayores seis décadas 1953-2013, Fundación BBVA ProvincialUniversity City of Caracas, Caracas, VenezuelaBecame a UNESCO Heritage site in 2000, and features contributions from Calder, Lam, Hans Arp, Victor Vasarely and more.
2011IV Bienal de EsculturasGalería de Arte Trazos, Caracas, Venezuela
2010Galería de ArteParque Negra Hipólita, Valencia, Venezuela
2010Honored Artist at the XV Salón Cabriales de PinturaXV Salón Cabriales de Pintura, University of Carabobo, Valencia, Venezuela
2010Chicago ARTEahoraMiami Beach Convention Center, Miami, Florida, United States
2009Honored Artist at the FIAAMMaracaibo, Venezuela
2008Artistes de l’Atelier 3Jean-Lurcat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, Angers, France
2008Art Nocturne KnokkeCultuurcentrum Scharpoord, Knokke, Belgium
2008Atelier 3 Transpositions. Tapisseries, 1972-2008Jean-Lurcat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, Angers, France
2006Le Musée de la Tapisserie a 20 ans,Jean-Lurcat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, Angers, France
2006IberoaméricaUniversity of Saint Francis, Joliet, Illinois, United States
2004Caracas à ParisFrench Alliance of Paris, Paris, FranceExhibition to mark his thirty years in Venezuela.
2003La Megaexposición 1900-2000Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela
2003Arte venezolano del siglo XX. Colección PDVSAMuseo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela
2002Geometría como vanguardia. Colección Banco MercantilMuseo Alejandro Otero, Caracas, Venezuela
2002Abstracción geométrica en VenezuelaGalería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela
2002Latinamerican & Caribbean Art TodayMiura Museum of Art, Miura, Japan
2002Reacción y polémica en el arte venezolanoGalería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela
2001I Salón de Arte Exxon Mobil de VenezuelaMuseo Sacro de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela
2000Un coeur, un monde Maison de la Culture du Japon, Paris, France
2000Peinture et Sculpture d’Amérique LatineFestival La Cita, Biarritz, France
2000Colección del MuseoMuseo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
2000Etats d’un temps, Colección Fonds Départemental d’Art Contemporain Centre Culturel de Paris Sucy, Sucy-en-Brie, France
1998Obras de la colección del FDAMaison du Citoyen, Fontenay-sous-bois, France
1997El Taller Libre de Arte, 1948-1952Museo Jacobo Borges, Caracas, Venezuela
1997Tapisseries de l’Atelier 3Auditorium de Lyon, Lyon, France
1995Salon de MaiEspace Eiffel-Branly, Paris, France
1995XXIX Prix International d’Art Contemporain de Monte CarloMonte Carlo, MonacoSpecial guest
1995El arte venezolano en los años 60. La década prodigiosaMuseo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
1995Venezuela, de l’art populaire à l’art contemporainCentre Culturel de Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France
1994Adquisitions 1993Fonds Départemental d’Art Contemporain, Paris, France
1994Tapisseries d’aujourd’hui sur murs d’autrefoisChâteau des Adhémar, Montelimar, France
1992From Torres-García to SotoArt Museum of the Americas, Organization of American States, Washington DC, United States
1992XXVII Prix International d’Art Contemporain de Monte CarloMonte Carlo, Monaco
1990LatinArtCa 90La Galerie d’Art Lavalin, Montreal, Canada
1990Reencuentro, Premios Arturo Michelena 1943-1989 y Premios Andrés Pérez Mujica 1951-1989Galería de Arte Ascaso, Valencia, Venezuela
1990Latin American drawings todaySan Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California, United States
1989Arte de los países bolivarianosMuseo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
1981Omaggio a Picasso,Palazzo Robellini, Erba, Italy
1981Pro-Posición 20Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela
1980El arte constructivo venezolanoGalería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela
1980Segunda Bienal Iberoamericana de ArteInstituto Pedro Domecq, Mexico City, México
1980Chicago International Art ExhibitionNavy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, United States
1980Indagación de la imagenGalería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela
1979El arte figurativo en América LatinaMuseo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela
1976Latin Excellence, Contemporary Hispanic Art,Xerox Corporation Center, Rochester, New York, United States
1975Panorama de la pintura venezolanaCasa de Las Américas, Havana, Cuba
1974Ocho artistas venezolanosGalería Aele, Madrid, España
1973World Print CompetitionSan Francisco, California, United States
1972La Colección de Ewa GartzteckaNational Museum of Wroclaw, Wrocław, Poland
1965Venezolanische Malerei von Heute, Alemania, traveling exhibition of Venezuelan artists
1964Casa de Las Américas, Havana, Cuba
1963Musée Maison de la Culture, Le Havre, France
1962XXXI Bienal de Venecia, ItaliaVenice, Italy
1962Instituto Cultural Venezolano-IsraelíNew York, New York, United States
1962Venezuelan painter, Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, France
1962Museum of Rabat, Rabat, Morocco
1962Pintores venezolanos de la Escuela de ParísMusée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
1959Palacio de la Inquisición, Cartagena, Colombia
1959Arte latinoamericano contemporáneoPan American Union, Washington DC, United States
1959Paintings and drawings from Latin AmericaDallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas, United States
1958Carnegie InternacionalPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
1956Musée de PicardieAmiens, France
1956Permanence de l’ArtMusée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, Switzerland
1956Picasso y el arte contemporáneo hispanoamericanoMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, United States
1956Homenaje a Paul KleePalacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, México
1956Bienal Internacional de Pintura y Grabado
1955Bienal de São PauloSão Paulo, Brasil
1955Carnegie InternationalPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
1954Works for the University City of CaracasMusée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France
1954XXVII Bienal de Venecia Italia y Pan American UnionWashington DC, United States
1953Bienal de São PauloSão Paulo, Brasil

Publications

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