Colombian art has 3500 years of history and covers a wide range of media and styles ranging from Spanish

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

devotional painting to

Quimbaya The Quimbaya (/kɪmbaɪa/) were a small indigenous group in present-day Colombia noted for their gold work characterized by technical accuracy and detailed designs. The majority of the gold work is made in ''tumbaga'' alloy, with 30% copper, ...

gold craftwork to the "lyrical americanism" of painter Alejandro Obregón (1920–1992). Perhaps the most internationally acclaimed Colombian artist is painter and sculptor

Fernando Botero Fernando Botero Angulo (born 19 April 1932) is a Colombian figurative artist and sculptor, born in Medellín. His signature style, also known as "Boterismo", depicts people and figures in large, exaggerated volume, which can represent political ...

(1932).

Pre-Columbian sculpture

Pottery

There is archaeological evidence that ceramics were produced on Colombia's Caribbean coast earlier than anywhere in the Americas outside of the lower

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Bolivi ...

. Fiber- tempered ceramics associated with shell middens appeared at sites such as Puerto Hormiga, Monsú, Puerto Chacho, and San Jacinto by 3100 BC. Fiber-tempered ceramics at Monsú have been dated to 5940 radiocarbon years

before present Before Present (BP) years, or "years before present", is a time scale used mainly in archaeology, geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred relative to the origin of practical radiocarbon dating in the 1950s. Becaus ...

. The fiber-tempered pottery at Puerto Hormiga was "crude", formed from a single lump of clay. The fiber-tempered pottery at San Jacinto is described as "well-made". Sand-tempered coiled ceramics have also been found at Puerto Hormiga. The Piartal culture (750–1250 AD) in the mountainous region on the

Colombia–Ecuador border The Colombia–Ecuador border is an international boundary between the territories of Colombia and Ecuador. It consists of two sections, one terrestrial and one marine, well-defined: The first section is a continuous line of 586 kilometres, run ...

produced unique methods of producing pottery as well as patterns inspired by animal or snake skin. Vessels were created for use in secondary burial, or the practice of allowing the flesh to decompose and then reburying the bones. These vessels were also used to hold relics and jewelry belonging to the deceased. Poporo by Turista Perene

Goldwork

The earliest examples of gold craftsmanship have been attributed to the Tumaco people of the Pacific coast and date to around 325 BCE. Gold would play a pivotal role in luring the Spanish to the area now called Colombia during the 16th century (See:

El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

). One of the most valued artifacts of Pre-Columbian goldwork is the so-called ''

Poporo Quimbaya Poporo is a device used by indigenous cultures in present and pre-Columbian South America for storage of small amounts of lime produced from burnt and crushed sea-shells. It consists of two pieces: the receptacle, and the lid which includes a pin ...

'', a small (23.5 × 11.4 cm), hollow, devotional object (used to ''mambeo'' or

coca leaf Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. The plant is grown as a cash crop in the Argentine Northwest, Bolivia, Al ...

chewing ritual) made of gold whose aesthetic harmony, simple elegance, and mathematical symmetry are striking and almost modern. The Museo del Oro in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...

displays the most important collection of pre-Columbian gold handicraft in the Americas.

Stone

Roughly between 200 BCE and 800 CE, the San Agustín culture, masters of stonecutting, entered its “classical period". They erected raised ceremonial centres, sarcophagi, and large stone

monolith A monolith is a geological feature consisting of a single massive rock (geology), stone or rock, such as some mountains. For instance, Savandurga, Savandurga mountain is a monolith mountain in India. Erosion usually exposes the geological for ...

s depicting anthropomorphic and zoomorphhic forms out of stone. Some of these have been up to five meters high. Related to the San Agustín culture were the inhabitants of ''

Tierradentro Tierra abajo (meaning "Underground" in Spanish for their well-known tombs) is one of the ancient Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia. It started to flourish around 200 BC in the mountains of southwest Colombia, and continued into the 17th century. T ...

'' (“inner land”, so called because of its inaccessibility) who created over one hundred and fifty underground tombs, or hypogea; their walls and ceilings were richly decorated with geometric forms recalling the interior of palm huts. Also in the tombs were found funeral urns, bowls, and pitchers. File:Tolita-Tumaco gold figure 1st century BC.jpg, Tolita-Tumaco gold figure File:Muisca raft Legend of El Dorado Offerings of gold.jpg, The

Muisca raft The Muisca raft (''Balsa Muisca'' in Spanish), sometimes referred to as the Golden Raft of El Dorado, is a pre-Columbian votive piece created by the Muisca, an indigenous people of Colombia in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The piece ...

votive piece, ''

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

(

Pasca Pasca is a town and municipality in the Cundinamarca department of Colombia located in the Andes. It belongs to the Sumapaz Province. Pasca is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the capital Bogotá. It borders Fusag ...

, Cundinamarca)'', gold, 600 CE - 1600 CE File:Villa de Leyva el infiernito.jpg,

El Infiernito ''El Infiernito'' (Spanish for "The Little Hell"), is a pre-Columbian archaeoastronomical site located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the outskirts of Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, Colombia. It is composed of several earthworks surrounding a s ...

archaeological site File:Parque Arqueológico de San Agustín-Mesita B - Eagle with snake.jpg,

Zoomorphic The word ''zoomorphism'' derives from the Greek ζωον (''zōon''), meaning "animal", and μορφη (''morphē''), meaning "shape" or "form". In the context of art, zoomorphism could describe art that imagines humans as non-human animals. It c ...

San Agustin sculpture File:Parque Arqueológico de San Agustín-Mesita A 06.jpg, Monumental tomb, ''Middle San Agustín period (

San Agustín, Huila San Agustín () is a town and municipality in the southern Colombian Department of Huila. The town is located 227 km away from the capital of the Department, Neiva. Population is around 34,000. The village was founded in 1752 by Alejo Ast ...

)'', 100 BCE - 700 CE

Modern sculpture

The Colombian sculpture from the sixteenth to 18th centuries was mostly devoted to religious depictions of ecclesiastic art, strongly influenced by the Spanish schools of sacred sculpture. During the early period of the Colombian republic, the national artists were focused in the production of sculptural portraits of politicians and public figures, in a plain

neoclassicist Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...

trend. During the 20th century, the Colombian sculpture began to develop a bold and innovative work with the aim of reaching a better understanding of national sensitivity. File:La_Bachue_de_Jose_Horacio_Betancur-Medellin(1).jpg, Monument to

Bachué The goddess Bachué (in Chibcha language: "the one with the naked breast"), is a mother goddess that according to the Muisca religion is the mother of humanity. She emerged of the waters in the Iguaque Lake with a baby in her arms, who grew to ...

by Luís Horacio Betancur,

Medellín Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...

File:TayronaStatue-highlighted-.jpg, Monument to the

tayrona Tairona (or Tayrona) was a Pre-Columbian culture of Colombia, which consisted in a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia, South America, which ...

deities.

Santa Marta Santa Marta (), officially Distrito Turístico, Cultural e Histórico de Santa Marta ("Touristic, Cultural and Historic District of Santa Marta"), is a city on the coast of the Caribbean Sea in northern Colombia. It is the capital of Magdalena ...

File:India01.jpg, Monument to India Catalina in Cartagena File:Monumento pantano de vargas, completo. 2006.JPG,

Vargas Swamp Lancers ''Vargas Swamp Lancers'', or Monument to the Lancers ( es, Monumento a los Lanceros), is a large sculptural complex realized by Colombia, Colombian artist Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt and by engineer Guillermo Gonzalez Zuleta in the department of Boya ...

Memorial is the largest sculpture in Latin America File:La Raza-Rodrigo Arenas Betancourt.JPG, '' Monumento a la Raza'', located in

La Alpujarra Administrative Center La Alpujarra Administrative Center, officially known as the José María Córdova Administrative Center, is an urban complex of government buildings built in the 1980s for the administration of the Antioquia department and Medellín municipality. ...

File:Museodeantioquia.jpg,

Botero Plaza Botero Plaza, surrounded by the Museum of Antioquia and the Rafael Uribe Uribe Palace of Culture, is a 7,000 m2 outside park that displays 23 sculptures by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, who donated these and several other artworks for the mus ...

with permanent display of several sculptures by

File:Pajarodebotero1.jpg, ''Bird'' ( By

) Was destroyed by a

terrorist attack Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

in 1997,

where 17 people died. The remains of the sculpture are displayed in San Antonio Square as a memorial for the victims File:María_Fernanda_Cardozo.jpg, Ranas bailando. (Dancing frogs) 1990. By María Fernanda Cardoso File:Escultura Negret El Virrey.JPG, Cascada. By

Edgar Negret Edgar is a commonly used English given name, from an Anglo-Saxon name ''Eadgar'' (composed of '' ead'' "rich, prosperous" and '' gar'' "spear"). Like most Anglo-Saxon names, it fell out of use by the later medieval period; it was, however, r ...

Painting

Pre-Columbian period

File:Rupestres.jpg, Chimitá

petrograph In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

s, circa 1300 B.C. Santander Department Colombian colonial art includes altar wood carving masterpieces and the statues for religious processions.

Colonial period

Painting in the colonial period reflected the power and prestige of the Catholic Church and the Spanish aristocracy in Colombia or as it was then known The New Kingdom of Granada (c. 1548-1717) and later The Viceroyalty of New Granada (1717–1819).

Early colonial period

Colombian painting in the early colonial period (1530s–1650) was mostly ecclesiastical in subject and based on

mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

, and

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

styles, with some minor influence from indigenous culture. Spanish explorers first set foot on Colombian soil in 1499 and established

, the first city and government in the territory of Colombia, in 1599. King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabela of Castille had in 1492 year unified Spain and conquered the remaining

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

stronghold in southern Spain (Granada); expelled Jews with the

Alhambra Decree The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish: ''Decreto de la Alhambra'', ''Edicto de Granada'') was an edict issued on 31 March 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ( Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Arag ...

and continued the

Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

; and sent

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

on his first expedition. It is from this context of ''

reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

'' or the Christianizing of the Iberian peninsula that the similarly strongly Catholic colonial project in the Americas might be understood. In this period, Spain and Portugal were the greatest powers in Europe and the most dogged defenders (and enforcers) of

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Workshops in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

produced many of the early paintings sent to Colombia. Colombian artists in this period were mostly considered common tradesmen, like cobblers or coopers. As throughout much of the history of art around the world, these usually anonymous artisans produced work that served the ideological needs of their patrons, in this case the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. The churches and homes of wealthy families in the main towns of Cundinamarca and Boyacá contain some of the oldest extant examples of colonial art in Colombia, mostly in the form of

mural painting A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

. The first colonial-era painter to work in Colombia, or as it was then known as, Nueva Granada, was the

native Alonso de Narváez (d. 1583). He is credited with painting an image of the Virgin Mary (

Our Lady of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General Roma ...

) that later became itself an object of devotion, known as

Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá Our Lady of the Rosary of Chiquinquirá or the Virgin of Chiquinquirá is a Marian title of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Roman Catholic), Blessed Virgin Mary associated with a venerated image in the northern Andes region. Under this venerated title, ...

thanks to, as Catholics believe, a miraculous repairing of the painting's fabric. Trinidad

Baroque period

Baroque art (starting in Rome around 1600), including Latin American Baroque (1650-1750 :es:Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos), tended towards emotionalism, an appeal to

populism Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...

, and large gestures and flowing garments. In line with the Counter-Reformation a generation prior, the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s, an order formed to counter

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

, were the first to embrace the

. The major influences on Colombian artists in this period were Spanish Baroque painters like

Francisco de Zurbarán Francisco de Zurbarán ( , ; baptized 7 November 1598 – 27 August 1664) was a Spanish Painting, painter. He is known primarily for his religious paintings depicting monks, nuns, and martyrs, and for his still-lifes. Zurbarán gained the nicknam ...

(1580–1664), as well as Flemish, Italian, and also Quito and Cuzco influences, through engravings and various original images imported for churches and monasteries. Another Seville native, Baltasar de Figueroa ''El Viejo'' (1629–1667), settled in

in the early 17th century and set up an artist's workshop. He and his many descendants would be prolific and would invent a kind of creolized Colombian form of Baroque painting that combined the borrowing of forms and subjects from European engravings (mostly religious in nature: saints in various states of mortification or ecstasy, the Virgin Mary, or Christ) with native motifs and decoration. But it would be one of the Figueroa family's apprentices, Gregorio Vázquez de Arce y Ceballos, who would stand out among all painters of the colonial era.

Gregorio Vasquez de Arce y Ceballos Gregorio is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name * Gregorio Conrado Álvarez (1925–2016), Uruguayan army general and de facto President of Uruguay from 1981 until 1985 * Gregorio Álvarez (historian) (1889–1986), A ...

(1638–1711) is considered the greatest master of the colonial period. In his lifetime he produced around five hundred paintings, mostly devotional, with a technique that juxtaposed figures taken from paintings by European masters using innovative materials found in the New World. His depictions of the Trinity as a single figure with four eyes and three faces, an innovation unique to Latin America, would be later condemned as heretical in part because they resembled Hindu deities. The

Sopo Archangels Sopo may refer to: * Sopó, a town in Colombia * Sopo (structure), a storage or granary structure in Batak Toba culture * Sopo River, a river in South Sudan * Sopo, Portugal, a town in Portugal See also * Korean cannon Cannons appeared in ...

is a series of twelve paintings, each featuring an

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

(three canonical, plus eight apocryphal, and one guardian) engulfed in a tenebrous (cloudy) background. Their figures are life-sized, clad in rich apparel, full of drapes and folds, and are meant to be "read" through their various iconography. Like many depictions of angels, these ostensibly male figures are depicted with soft, feminine faces and round hips. The origin of this series is unknown, as is the artist. It is considered one of the enduring enigmas of Colombian art. File:San Jose con el nino, by Arce y Ceballos.JPG, '' San José y el Niño'' by

, oil on wood, ca. 1670 File:File-Los desposorios místicos de Santa Catalina.jpg, ''St. Catalina weddings '' by Gregorio Vasquez de Arce y Ceballos, (Desposorios de Santa Catalina) 18th century. Oil on canvas 176 x 130 cm File:Trinidad.jpg, Holy

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

, by Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos. Oil on canvas.62 x 44 cm File:Coronacion de la Virgen by Figueroa.jpg, "Coronación de la virgen", by Baltasar de Vargas Figueroa (1663) – The catholic influence is very strong in the colonial period File:Arielsopo.jpg, Ariel- Command of God: The archangel of divine war. From the collection

File:Baraquel.jpg, Baraquel- Blessing of God: The archangel of virtue File:Custodiosopo.jpg, Guardian Angel-Company of God: The angel of children File:Esriel.jpg, Esriel-Justice of god: The archangel of divine discipline

The ''Virreinato'' and rococo

The raising of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717 coincided roughly with the ascension of the Bourbons to the throne of Spain. This period marked a period of resurgence and the first sparks of

Enlightenment in Spain The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment ( es, Ilustración) came to Spain in the 18th century with the new Bourbon dynasty, following the death of the last Habsburg monarch, Charles II, in 1700. The period of reform and ' enlightened despotism' u ...

Rococo Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...

, a decadent form, replaced baroque as the dominant style. The new viceroy court in Bogotá led to a surge in demand for portraits of civilians and clergymen. The leading portrait painter of this period was Joaquín Guttiérrez. He depicted members of the aristocracy in frozen forms, surrounded by richly embellished furniture and decoration, and usually printed the subject's name and family title beneath their image.

Republican period

File:Policarpa Mercedes Delgado Mallarino.jpg,

Policarpa Salavarrieta Policarpa Salavarrieta (c. 26 January 1795 – 14 November 1817), also known as La Pola, was a Neogranadine seamstress who spied for the Revolutionary Forces during the Spanish Reconquista of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. She was captur ...

portrait by Mercedes Delgado Mallarino File:General Santander.jpg, Portrait of

Francisco de Paula Santander Francisco José de Paula Santander y Omaña (Villa del Rosario, Norte de Santander, Colombia, April 2, 1792 – Santafé de Bogotá, Colombia, May 6, 1840), was a Colombian military and political leader during the 1810–1819 independ ...

(1874) by Martín Tovar y Tovar (1827-1902). Oil on canvas File:JoaquínMosquera2.jpg, Portrait of

Joaquín Mosquera Joaquín Mariano de Mosquera-Figueroa y Arboleda-Salazar (14 December 1787 – 4 April 1878) was a Colombian statesman and a Founding Father of Colombia who served as the 3rd and 5th President of Gran Colombia. Mosquera also served as Vice Pres ...

Ricardo Acevedo Bernal Ricardo Acevedo Bernal (4 May 1867 in Bogotá – 7 April 1930 in Rome) was a Colombian portrait painter, composer and photographer. Biography He attended the " Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé", where he studied with Father Santiago Páram ...

(1867)

20th century and modernism

From 1920 to 1940, Marco Tobón Mejía, José Horacio Betancur, Pedro Nel Gómez,

Ignacio Gómez Jaramillo Ignacio Gomez Jaramillo ( Medellín, 30 December 1910 - Coveñas, 12 July 1970) was a Colombian painter, drawer, and muralist. Gomez Jaramillo was one of Colombia's most important artists of the 20th century. He was part of the Colombian Muralist M ...

Santiago Martinez Delgado Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated Regions of Chile, region, t ...

and Alipio Jaramillo produced several mural paintings influenced by the Mexican muralists, with neoclassic features and influences of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

. During the 1940s, a raising international disinterest in the Colombian art caused to the local artis to try new ways of expression such as

post-impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction ag ...

and French scholar style. An example of this is the landscape painter Ricardo Gómez Campuzano and his depictions of Cartagena. Several art critics point to the 1950s as the time when Colombian art started to have a distinctive point of view, reinventing the traditional elements under the 20th century concepts. Examples of this are the Greiff portraits by Ignacio Gomez Jaramillo, showing what the Colombian art could do with the new techniques applied to typical Colombian themes. Carlos Correa, with his paradigmathic “Naturaleza muerta en silencio” (silent dead nature), combines geometrical abstraction and

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

in a style still recurrent today in many artists. Pedro Nel Gómez, in his “Autorretrato con sombrero” (1941) (self-portrait with hat) shows influences from

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetism, Synthetist style that were d ...

and

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

. He also shows a strong influence of

José Clemente Orozco José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sique ...

in his series about the ''Barequeras'' (women extracting gold from the rivers banks) and his self-portrait (1949) shows strong influences from Cézanne. Alejandro Obregón is often considered as the father of modern Colombian painting, and one of the most influential artist in this period, due to his originality, the painting of Colombian landscapes with symbolic and expressionist use of animals, (specially the

andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a giant South American Cathartid vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the larg ...

). In his work is noticeable the influences of

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

and

Graham Sutherland Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was a prolific English artist. Notable for his paintings of abstract landscapes and for his portraits of public figures, Sutherland also worked in other media, including printmaking ...

. Currently, some of the most recognized painters in the international scene are

and

Omar Rayo Omar Rayo Reyes (January 20, 1928 – June 7, 2010) was a renowned Colombian painter, sculptor, caricaturist and plastic artist. He won the 1970 Salón de Artistas Colombianos. Rayo worked with abstract geometry primarily employing black, whi ...

. File:Mural Feria Chicago 1933.jpg, Chicago fair (1933), by

File:Santiago_Martinez_Delgado_in_the_colombian_congress.jpg, Mural by Santiago Martinez Delgado in the Colombian Congress File:La Republica de Pedro Nel Gomez-Medellin.JPG, "The Colombian Republic". Mural by Pedro Nel Gómez File:Danza del Cafe de Pedro Nel Gomez-Medellim.JPG, "Coffee dance". Mural by Pedro Nel Gómez File:Contrabajo.jpg, "Painting of a contrabass" by Alvaro Valbuena (1970) File:2019 Santa Marta - Zibebiz (1994), de Omar Rayo - Museo Bolivariano de Arte Contemporaneo.jpg, Zibebiz.

. Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino

21st century

During the 21st century, Colombian artists have focused in the intersection between new media and traditional crafts, as well as narratives that reflect on the

Colombian conflict The Colombian conflict ( es, link=no, Conflicto armado interno de Colombia) began on May 27, 1964, and is a low-intensity asymmetric war between the government of Colombia, far-right paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and far-left gue ...

and the consequences it has had on Colombian society, territory and bodies. File:NicolasDelaHoz obra01.jpg, "Fourth Circle" by Nicolas De la Hoz, oil and acrylic on canvas, 2005

Film

Theater

Theater was introduced in Colombia during the Spanish colonization in 1550 through

zarzuela () is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular songs, as well as dance. The etymology of the name is uncertain, but some propose it may derive from the name of ...

companies. Colombian theater is supported by the Ministry of Culture and a number of private and state owned organizations. Among the most important organizations are the National Association of Scenic Directors (ANDE), Performing Arts Workers Associations, Antioquia Storytellers Association, Colombian Association of Critique and Theater Research (ACIT), Puppeteers Associations (ATICO), Colombian Corporation of Theater among others. Colombian theater was introduced during the

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

by the Spanish between 1550 and 1810. At the end of the 19th century and beginnings of the 20th century the most important center of theater in Colombia was the Colon theater in downtown Bogota. These theaters were built resembling Italian architecture style. During the 20th century interest for theater had spread all over Colombia and many theater were built in the biggest cities of Colombia. Colombia currently holds one of the biggest theater festivals in the world, properly called the Ibero-American Theater Festival. As in many other parts of the world, future actors and actresses begin their performing experience in theater many of them with the goal of making it to television or film. Theater in Colombia is informally known as "tablas" (woods) because of the wooden stages on which actors perform their plays. Colombia has a mature system of theater companies which reaches an audience mostly in the city of Bogota.

Dance

References

External links

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Official site
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Gold Museum, Bogotá The Museum of Gold ( es, El Museo del Oro) is a museum located in Bogotá, Colombia. It is one of the most visited touristic highlights in the country. The museum receives around 500,000 tourists per year.Virtual museum of Pre-Columbian gold in Colombia
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Current information on Colombia´s Art Scene
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Official site Museo de Bogotá
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Official site Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá
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Digital collection
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Luis Ángel Arango Library Luis Ángel Arango Library (Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango or BLAA) is a public library located in Bogotá, Colombia. It is one of the largest and most important libraries in the world. It was founded in 1958 as a small library with a few books o ...

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Official site Directorio Nacional de Arte Colombiano
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Museum of Antioquia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Art Of Colombia

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...