CAF: a tribute to the painter Enrique Grau

CAF pays a tribute to the painter Enrique Grau

Thursday, July 22, a tribute was paid to the Colombian artist Enrique Grau, who died recently. The event consisted of the inauguration of the exhibition Enrique Grau In Memoriam, obras sobre papel and the presentation of the book Enrique Grau – Homenaje by Bélgica Rodríguez.

Grau was born in Cartagena in 1920 and died in Bogotá in April 2004. During his lifetime he became a leading figure in the history of Colombian and Latin American art, occupying a preeminent place among artistic creators.

Even as a child, he was a prodigy in drawing and the use of pictorial space. When he was 20, he won a prize with his famous Mulata Cartagenera, and from then on the image of the attractive mulatto girl was to continue as Rita, the symbolic figure of the wonderful, sensual women that were to appear throughout his work.

Different countries in Europe, a time in New York, and travels around Latin American were to be the venues for his encounters with history and art, always working on his paintings, his murals, his sculptures, and his extraordinary drawings.

Enrique Grau as a constructor of realities, contributed generously to his country, not only with his artistic creations, but also with his work as a teacher and as a promoter of young talents, as the friend of many artists from all parts of the world, and as a promoter of culture, particularly in Cartagena.

In addition, he produced set designs for the Colombian theatre. His passion for the cinema led him to make forays into this medium, making several movies, just as his love for his country led him to undertake civic works that now stand in Cartagena, Bogotá, Cali and Medellín as testimonies to his multifaceted work, not to mention the murals and sculptures that rise up proud at having been created by the master.

On his eightieth birthday, Colombia paid him a number of tributes with retrospective exhibitions throughout the country. In 2001, he was honored by being made a Great Officer of the Order of Boyacá by the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia, and in 2003 with the Grand Cross, Order of the Congress of Colombia. At the end of last year, he was paid homage with a book written by Bélgica Rodríguez, edited by Villegas Editores and sponsored by the company Davivienda.

The CAF is honored to host a small sample of the prolific works of this notable master and to render him a special tribute in its gallery, presenting works belonging to Venezuelan collectors and Caracas’ Museo de Bellas Artes.