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.
| Year | Title | Location | Notes |
| 2019 | Oswaldo Vigas: Transformations | Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, Florida, United States | |
| 2018 | Oswaldo Vigas: Transformations | Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States | |
| 2016 | Oswaldo Vigas Antológica 1943–2013 | Museum of Contemporary Art at the University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil | |
| 2015 | Oswaldo Vigas Antológica 1943–2013 | Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile | |
| 2015 | Donación Oswaldo Vigas | Museo Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France | |
| 2014 | Oswaldo Vigas: transfigurations | Dillon Gallery, New York, New York, United States | |
| 2014 | Homenaje a Oswaldo Vigas | Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2014 | Oswaldo Vigas Antológica 1943–2013 | , Lima, Peru | |
| 2014 | Oswaldo Vigas Antológica 1943–2013 | Museo de Arte Moderno, Bogotá, Colombia | This was the first location of the traveling exhibition. |
| 2012 | El dibujo en la obra de Oswaldo Vigas, 1940-2012 | Gabinete del Dibujo y la Estampa de Valencia, Venezuela. | Retrospective exhibition that included 100 works. |
| 2012 | Feria Iberoamericana de Arte de Caracas, FIA 2012 | Galería de Arte Ascaso, Galería Medicci and 700 Arte of Maracaibo. | |
| 2012 | Exposición de arte iberoamericano | Madrid, Spain | Exhibition to mark of the celebration of the two hundred years of the establishment of the Supreme Court of Spain. |
| 2011 | Oswaldo Vigas. Mérida, Paris, Caracas. Peintures | Centre d´Art Villa Tamaris, La Seyne-sur-mer, France | Retrospective exhibition that included 170 works. |
| 2011 | Feria Iberoamericana de Arte de Caracas, FIA 2011 | Galería de Arte Ascaso and Galería Medicci | |
| 2010 | Oswaldo Vigas. De brujas a curanderas | Parque Fernando Peñalver, Valencia, Carabobo, Venezuela | |
| 2009 | Mujeres, mujeres y mujeres, Alianza Francesa based in La Castellana | Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2009 | Oswaldo Vigas en InterValores | InterValores, Chacao, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2007 | Oswaldo Vigas: pasión por la creación, | Galería Corporación Andina de Fomento, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2007 | Tierra y fuego | Fundación Banco Provincial, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2005 | Oswaldo Vigas: grabados recientes | French Alliance, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2005 | Oswaldo Vigas: sortilèges des tropiques | Museo Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France | |
| 2004 | Ideografías de Paris, 1952-1957, Oswaldo Vigas | Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela | |
| 2003 | Oswaldo Vigas, recuerdos del presente | Galería de Arte Ascaso, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2002 | Ideografías de Paris, 1952-1957, Oswaldo Vigas | Tenji Gallery, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 2002 | Ideografías de Paris, 1952-1957, Oswaldo Vigas | Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1998 | Oswaldo Vigas, painting and sculpture | Aldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago, USA | |
| 1997 | Vigas en Maracaibo | Galería 700 Arte, Maracaibo, Venezuela | |
| 1997 | Oswaldo Vigas. Obras clave de 1952 a 1997 | Comandancia General de la Aviación, Caracas, Venezuela | tribute of the Venezuelan Air Force to Oswaldo Vigas |
| 1996 | Oswaldo Vigas, un hombre americano | Casa de Las Américas, Havana, Cuba | |
| 1995 | Oswaldo Vigas. Mutants, pélélés, contorsionnistes et autres zigotos | Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France | |
| 1995 | Oswaldo Vigas. La obra reciente | Grupo Li-Centro de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1993 | Vigas, de 1952 a 1993 | Museum Monnaie de Paris, Paris, France | |
| 1993 | Oswaldo Vigas, la obra reciente | Grupo Li-Centro de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1990 | Retrospectiva Vigas: lo figurativo y lo telúrico | Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1989 | Ceremoniales | Centro Armitano Arte, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1987 | Paisajes andinos, with Marius Sznajderman | Galería Los Espacios Cálidos, Ateneo de Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1981 | Tapicería de Oswaldo Vigas | Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1979 | Antológica Ritos elementales, dioses oscuros | Instituto de Arte Panameño, Panama | |
| 1979 | Antológica Ritos elementales, dioses oscuros | Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas Venezuela | |
| 1977 | Oswaldo Vigas, imagen de una identidad expresiva | Galería del Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Museo de Arte Italiano, Lima, Peru | |
| 1973 | Retrospectiva Oswaldo Vigas: 1943-1973, | Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia | |
| 1970 | Mitificaciones | Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1970 | Tapicerías | Galería Antañona, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1967 | Venezuelan witches | Galería del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, Washington, DC, United States | |
| 1967 | Vigas: pinturas 1965-1967 | Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1966 | Retrospectiva Las brujas, árbol genealógico: 1941-1952 | Galería 22, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1964 | Oswaldo Vigas: pinturas de los años 1960-1964 | Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1964 | Vigas: grabados, dibujos, gouaches | Ateneo de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1964 | Oswaldo Vigas: retrospectiva: 1941-1964 | Ateneo de Valencia, Valencia, Venezuela | |
| 1963 | Vigas | Galería Neufville, Paris, France | |
| 1961 | Vigas, peintures recéntes | Galerie La Roue, Paris, France | |
| 1958 | Oswaldo Vigas of Venezuela | Pan American Union, Washington, DC, United States | |
| 1958 | Blancos y negros | Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1957 | Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain | ||
| 1957 | Oswaldo Vigas: 1953-1957 | Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1956 | Blanc et noir | Galería La Roue, Paris, France | large-format drawings were on display |
| 1952 | Retrospectiva Oswaldo Vigas: 1946-1952 | Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1942 | Ateneo de Valencia | Valencia, Venezuela | first painting exhibition. |
Group exhibitions
| Year | Title | Location | Notes |
| 2013 | Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas : síntesis de las artes mayores seis décadas 1953-2013, Fundación BBVA Provincial | University City of Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | Became a UNESCO Heritage site in 2000, and features contributions from Calder, Lam, Hans Arp, Victor Vasarely and more. |
| 2011 | IV Bienal de Esculturas | Galería de Arte Trazos, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2010 | Galería de Arte | Parque Negra Hipólita, Valencia, Venezuela | |
| 2010 | Honored Artist at the XV Salón Cabriales de Pintura | XV Salón Cabriales de Pintura, University of Carabobo, Valencia, Venezuela | |
| 2010 | Chicago ARTEahora | Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, Florida, United States | |
| 2009 | Honored Artist at the FIAAM | Maracaibo, Venezuela | |
| 2008 | Artistes de l’Atelier 3 | Jean-Lurcat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, Angers, France | |
| 2008 | Art Nocturne Knokke | Cultuurcentrum Scharpoord, Knokke, Belgium | |
| 2008 | Atelier 3 Transpositions. Tapisseries, 1972-2008 | Jean-Lurcat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, Angers, France | |
| 2006 | Le Musée de la Tapisserie a 20 ans, | Jean-Lurcat Museum and Contemporary Tapestry, Angers, France | |
| 2006 | Iberoamérica | University of Saint Francis, Joliet, Illinois, United States | |
| 2004 | Caracas à Paris | French Alliance of Paris, Paris, France | Exhibition to mark his thirty years in Venezuela. |
| 2003 | La Megaexposición 1900-2000 | Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2003 | Arte venezolano del siglo XX. Colección PDVSA | Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela | |
| 2002 | Geometría como vanguardia. Colección Banco Mercantil | Museo Alejandro Otero, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2002 | Abstracción geométrica en Venezuela | Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2002 | Latinamerican & Caribbean Art Today | Miura Museum of Art, Miura, Japan | |
| 2002 | Reacción y polémica en el arte venezolano | Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2001 | I Salón de Arte Exxon Mobil de Venezuela | Museo Sacro de Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2000 | Un coeur, un monde | Maison de la Culture du Japon, Paris, France | |
| 2000 | Peinture et Sculpture d’Amérique Latine | Festival La Cita, Biarritz, France | |
| 2000 | Colección del Museo | Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 2000 | Etats d’un temps, Colección Fonds Départemental d’Art Contemporain | Centre Culturel de Paris Sucy, Sucy-en-Brie, France | |
| 1998 | Obras de la colección del FDA | Maison du Citoyen, Fontenay-sous-bois, France | |
| 1997 | El Taller Libre de Arte, 1948-1952 | Museo Jacobo Borges, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1997 | Tapisseries de l’Atelier 3 | Auditorium de Lyon, Lyon, France | |
| 1995 | Salon de Mai | Espace Eiffel-Branly, Paris, France | |
| 1995 | XXIX Prix International d’Art Contemporain de Monte Carlo | Monte Carlo, Monaco | Special guest |
| 1995 | El arte venezolano en los años 60. La década prodigiosa | Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1995 | Venezuela, de l’art populaire à l’art contemporain | Centre Culturel de Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France | |
| 1994 | Adquisitions 1993 | Fonds Départemental d’Art Contemporain, Paris, France | |
| 1994 | Tapisseries d’aujourd’hui sur murs d’autrefois | Château des Adhémar, Montelimar, France | |
| 1992 | From Torres-García to Soto | Art Museum of the Americas, Organization of American States, Washington DC, United States | |
| 1992 | XXVII Prix International d’Art Contemporain de Monte Carlo | Monte Carlo, Monaco | |
| 1990 | LatinArtCa 90 | La Galerie d’Art Lavalin, Montreal, Canada | |
| 1990 | Reencuentro, Premios Arturo Michelena 1943-1989 y Premios Andrés Pérez Mujica 1951-1989 | Galería de Arte Ascaso, Valencia, Venezuela | |
| 1990 | Latin American drawings today | San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, California, United States | |
| 1989 | Arte de los países bolivarianos | Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1981 | Omaggio a Picasso, | Palazzo Robellini, Erba, Italy | |
| 1981 | Pro-Posición 20 | Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1980 | El arte constructivo venezolano | Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1980 | Segunda Bienal Iberoamericana de Arte | Instituto Pedro Domecq, Mexico City, México | |
| 1980 | Chicago International Art Exhibition | Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, United States | |
| 1980 | Indagación de la imagen | Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1979 | El arte figurativo en América Latina | Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela | |
| 1976 | Latin Excellence, Contemporary Hispanic Art, | Xerox Corporation Center, Rochester, New York, United States | |
| 1975 | Panorama de la pintura venezolana | Casa de Las Américas, Havana, Cuba | |
| 1974 | Ocho artistas venezolanos | Galería Aele, Madrid, España | |
| 1973 | World Print Competition | San Francisco, California, United States | |
| 1972 | La Colección de Ewa Gartztecka | National Museum of Wroclaw, Wrocław, Poland | |
| 1965 | Venezolanische Malerei von Heute, Alemania, traveling exhibition of Venezuelan artists | ||
| 1964 | Casa de Las Américas, Havana, Cuba | ||
| 1963 | Musée Maison de la Culture, Le Havre, France | ||
| 1962 | XXXI Bienal de Venecia, Italia | Venice, Italy | |
| 1962 | Instituto Cultural Venezolano-Israelí | New York, New York, United States | |
| 1962 | Venezuelan painter, Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, France | ||
| 1962 | Museum of Rabat, Rabat, Morocco | ||
| 1962 | Pintores venezolanos de la Escuela de París | Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France | |
| 1959 | Palacio de la Inquisición, Cartagena, Colombia | ||
| 1959 | Arte latinoamericano contemporáneo | Pan American Union, Washington DC, United States | |
| 1959 | Paintings and drawings from Latin America | Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas, Texas, United States | |
| 1958 | Carnegie Internacional | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States | |
| 1956 | Musée de Picardie | Amiens, France | |
| 1956 | Permanence de l’Art | Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, Switzerland | |
| 1956 | Picasso y el arte contemporáneo hispanoamericano | Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, United States | |
| 1956 | Homenaje a Paul Klee | Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, México | |
| 1956 | Bienal Internacional de Pintura y Grabado | ||
| 1955 | Bienal de São Paulo | São Paulo, Brasil | |
| 1955 | Carnegie International | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States | |
| 1954 | Works for the University City of Caracas | Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France | |
| 1954 | XXVII Bienal de Venecia Italia y Pan American Union | Washington DC, United States | |
| 1953 | Bienal de São Paulo | São Paulo, Brasil |