Juan Villafuerte (July 19, 1945 – August 15, 1977) (Juan Antonio Villafuerte Estrada) was an artist known for his transmutated drawings and paintings. Villafuerte is among the ranks of other prominent

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

painters such as

Eduardo Kingman Eduardo Kingman Riofrío (February 23, 1913 – November 27, 1997) was an Ecuadorian artist. He is considered one of Ecuador's greatest artists of the 20th century, among the art circles of other master artists such as Oswaldo Guayasamín and Cam ...

Enrique Tábara Luis Enrique Tábara (21 February 1930 – 25 January 2021 Aníbal Villacís Aníbal Villacís (1927, Ambato, Ecuador – March 7, 2012) was a master painter from Ecuador who used raw earthen materials such as clay and natural pigments to paint on walls and doors throughout his city when he could not afford expensive artis ...

, Félix Arauz,

Oswaldo Guayasamín Oswaldo Guayasamín (July 6, 1919 – March 10, 1999) was an Ecuadorian painter and sculptor of Kichwa and Mestizo heritage. Biography Early life Guayasamín was born in Quito, Ecuador, to a native father and a Mestiza mother, both of Kichwa de ...

, Judith Gutierrez, Hernan Zuniga and Jose Carreño. Villafuerte was born on July 19, 1945, in

Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

to Manuel Villafuerte and Rosa Estrada. Juan was the youngest of four brothers, Manuel, and two sisters, Nila and Vilma. Nila was 13 when Juan was born. Nila later went on to marry Félix Arauz. In 1960, Villafuerte attended the School of Beautiful Arts in Guayaquil and was mentored by

Theo Constanté Theo Constanté Parra (May 11, 1934 in Guayaquil, Ecuador – April 27, 2014) was a master Latin American painter part of the Abstract Informalist Movement in Ecuador. In 2005, Constanté won the country's most prestigious award for art, lit ...

, Hans Michelson and

Caesar Andrade Faini Caesar Andrade Faini (April 15, 1913 – 1995) was a master Ecuadorian painter and teacher who studied at the School of Fine Arts of Quito under the painter Victor Mideros. Early life Faini was born in Quito, Ecuador. His initial work focu ...

. In 1964, Villafuerte and Hernan Zuniga moved to the factory of Juan Manuel Guano to work and live the Boehemian life of an artist. Villafuerte left the school in 1966 and began drawing from nature. Although Villafuerte did not follow in their footsteps he was greatly inspired by

Gilberto Almeida Gilberto Almeida Egas (30 May 1928 – 20 April 2015) was an Ecuadorian painter born in San Antonio de Ibarra, in Imbabura Province. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Quito from 1953 to 1957. His early work was in many media, especially pa ...

and

Enrique Tábara Luis Enrique Tábara (21 February 1930 – 25 January 2021Bolivar Moyano and Diego Oguendo, among other pens. In the newspaper, the art critic, Manuel Esteban Mejía, spoke of Villafuerte's work at the exhibit saying, "It is not complacent, or made to please, but to trouble. It outlines deformities". Other articles spoke of the works as being at the core of the humanist philosophy. In 1967, Villafuerte presented an exhibit called ''Personal Muestra'' at the Galleria Arte de Quito that consisted of his first series of

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

images. The ''Vietnam Series'' lasted until 1973 when the war ended. In his ''Vietnam Series'', Villafuerte would finish a drawing and rip it up into pieces and fix them to fine cardboard, then he would continue drawing and add in various newspaper and magazine clippings of the war. In 1968, Villafuerte exhibited with the group, VAN, at The Museum of Colonial Art in Quito. VAN was a group of modern Informalist artists that primarily consisted of

Estuardo Maldonado Estuardo Maldonado (born 1928) is an Ecuadorian sculptor and painter inspired by the Constructivist movement. Maldonado is a member of VAN (), the group of Informalist painters founded by Enrique Tábara. Other members of VAN included, Aníbal ...

Luis Molinari Luis Molinari (1929 in Guayaquil, Ecuador – 1994 in Quito, Ecuador) (Luis Molinari-Flores) was a member of the VAN Group (Vanguardia Artística Nacional), a collective of informal constructivist artists founded by Enrique Tábara and Aníb ...

and Gilberto Almeida, who were in a constant search for a new modern aesthetic derived from Pre-Columbian art. Villafuerte left Ecuador in 1968 to study engraving, drawing, and painting at the School of Beautiful Arts in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. During his study in Barcelona, Villafuerte became fascinated with the works of

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

, Durero, and

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

, as well as the intense work of Antonio Saura. The definitive irruption of the Neo-figurativism happened at the beginning of the 1970s, where Jose Carreño and Villafuerte represented Spain and Ecuador. The early Seventies saw the emergence of Villafuerte's, ''Transmutations Series'' of drawings, which consisted of exploding heads, monstrous creatures, figures of half women and half birds with multiple mouths and protruding veins. During this time,

Villafuerte Villafuerte is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Amílcar Augusto Villafuerte Trujillo (born 1964), Mexican politician affiliated with the PVEM *Brandon Villafuerte, American baseball player * Edwin Villafuerte, Ecuadoran footba ...

held many exhibits with the likes of Zuniga, Carreño and Yaulema all across Spain and Ecuador. Villafuerte was a very hard worker and was known to spend at least 16 hours a day drawing. He was also known to spend hours drawing satirical cartoons, often depicting the impoverished struggles of Latin Americans. One of his many important works is "Curas y Saldados" (1972), which shows the maturity of his drawing and the nerve of the color. Villafuerte died of cancer on August 15, 1977 while living in Barcelona. He left a great deal of master works behind thanks to his hard working nature. Much of his work was left to the family in Ecuador; However, there is still a large body of work that remains in Spain with his widow, Aracelli Molina, as well as various galleries and collections throughout

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and

. One incident that was widely publicized in both Spain and Ecuador was the brief loss of the corpse of Villafuerte. After Villafuerte passed in

, his father and Nila flew to Spain to bring the body home. When they arrived back in Guayaquil there was a large crowd gathered to pay respects, but when the plane was unloaded there was no corpse. It was later discovered that the corpse had accidentally been sent to

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. Once the body was located it was sent back to Guayaquil where it was held under guard for a short period of time at the House of Ecuadorian Culture. Villafuerte was finally laid to rest at the General Cemetery in Guayaquil. Villafuerte took drawing to all possibilities of the imagination, with the highest level of skill. In 1979, the first retrospective to honor the work of Villafuerte was held at the Centennial Gallery of Guayaquil and since then his legacy has continued to grow and has secured his place among the great Latin American masters of the 20th Century.

References

* Salvat, ''Arte Contemporáneo de Ecuador''. Salvat Editores Ecuatoriana, S.A.,

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

, 1977. * Municipalidad de Guayaquil - www.guayaquil.gov.ec/data/salondejulio/antecedentes.htm * House of Ecuadorian Culture - https://web.archive.org/web/20060826144154/http://www.cce.org.ec/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Villafuerte, Juan 1945 births 1977 deaths Guayaquil Modern painters Ecuadorian painters