Oswaldo Guayasamin was born in Quito, the capitol of Ecuador, on July 6, 1919. Son a native Native father and a Mestiza mother. Proud of his backgrounds, he creates trustingly a portrait of the human and social differences as criticism towards the reality that we live now a days in our society.

He graduated from the School of Fine Art in Quito as painter and sculptor. He carried out his first exhibit when he was 23, in 1942. He achieved in his youth all National Awards, and was awarded in 1952, at the age of 33, the Grand Award of the Biennial of Spain and later the Grand Award of the Biennial of Sao Paulo . His last exhibits were personally inaugurated in the Palace Museum of Luxemberg in Paris, and in the Museo Palais de Glace in Buenos Aires in 1995. In Quito Oswaldo Guayasamin built a museum that features his work. Oswaldo Guayasamin images capture the political oppression, racism, poverty, and class division found in much of South America.

Oswaldo Guayasamín dedicated his entire life to painting, sculpting, collecting and fighting the injustices of life. His death on March 10th, a day of national strikes by indigenous (whom he spent his life supporting) and other sectors of society, was a great loss to Ecuador. He was one of our national treasures.

External link

A virtual tour of Guayasamin Museum