Eduardo Ramírez Villamizar (27 August 1922 – 24 August 2004) was a Colombian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. He is considered a pioneer of abstract,

minimalist In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

, and Constructivist art in Colombia, and in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

more broadly.

Early life and education

Ramírez Villamizar was born on 27 August 1922 in

Pamplona, Norte de Santander Pamplona (pronounced ) is a municipality and city in Norte de Santander, Colombia. It is the fifth most populated city and the sixth most populated municipality in the Departments of Colombia, department. History Colonization The town was founded ...

, to parents Adela Villamizar and Jesús Ramírez Castro. He was the youngest of eleven children. His father was a

jeweler A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmithing, goldsmithing, stone setting, engraving, ...

, and his first experiences making visual art took place in his father's studio. He and his family moved to

Cúcuta Cúcuta (), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian municipality, capital of the department of Norte de Santander and nucleus of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The city is located in the homonymous valley, at the foot of the East ...

in 1929 in seek of work and economic opportunity after being bankrupted in the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. In 1940 he moved to

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

to study

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

at the

National University of Colombia The National University of Colombia () is a national public research university in Colombia, with general campuses in Bogotá, Medellín, Manizales and Palmira, and satellite campuses in Leticia, San Andrés, Arauca, Tumaco, and La Paz, ...

, though he changed his focus to painting in 1944. He was invited by the University of Cauca in 1947 to spend seven months working in

Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in the Pubenza Valley in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. The municipality has a population of 318,059, an a ...

with sculptor Édgar Negret. Negret exposed Ramírez Villamizar to European

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

artwork, which he had encountered through colleague and

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

artist

Jorge Oteiza Jorge Oteiza (October 21, 1908 – April 9, 2003), was a Basques, Basque Spain, Spanish sculpture, sculptor, painting, painter, designer and writing, writer from the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country, renowned for being one of th ...

. This experience was deeply influential to Ramírez Villamizar's stylistic development in the following years.

Career

After a trip to

Machu Picchu Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain ridge at . Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the ...

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, he took inspiration in the

Inca culture The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilisation rose fro ...

to do Constructivist art.

Later years and death

He died in

on 23 August 2004. He was 81 years old.

Awards and recognition

In 1978, he received the Order of Boyacá, the highest peacetime decoration awarded by the Colombian government. The following year he was also awarded the Medal of ColCultura and the José Eusebio Caro Medal (the latter being awarded by the departmental government of

Norte de Santander Norte de Santander (Spanish for Northern Santander) () is a department of northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities. Norte de Santander is bordere ...

, Ramírez Villamizar's place of birth). The Ramírez Villamizar Museum of Modern Art ( es), established in 1990 in his hometown of

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

, was named in his honor. The Venezuelan government awarded him with the

Order of Francisco de Miranda The Order of Francisco de Miranda (''Orden Francisco de Miranda'') is conferred by the Republic of Venezuela in memory of Francisco de Miranda (1754–1816). This national honor and decoration was created to recognize Venezuelan citizens and fore ...

in 1993. The

, his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, named him ''

Doctor Honoris Causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' in 1993. A

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released on 27 August 2019 (the 97th anniversary of his birth) was dedicated to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramírez Villamizar, Eduardo 20th-century Colombian sculptors 20th-century Colombian painters 20th-century Colombian male artists 1922 births 2004 deaths People from Pamplona, Norte de Santander National University of Colombia alumni