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 Villacís,

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 ...

, Hugo Cifuentes, León Ricaurte and Gilberto Almeida. Maldonado's international presence is largely due to his participation in over a hundred exhibits outside of Ecuador. Born in Píntag, in the

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 on ...

district of Ecuador, Maldonado left home at a young age in order to observe and learn from nature. Both nature and Indigenous themes have been a fundamental inspiration for much of his work. Maldonado studied art at the School of Fine Arts in

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

. By 1953, Maldonado was teaching drawing and art history at the American School of Guayaquil. In 1955, Maldonado traveled the Ecuadorian coast painting the people of the coast and landscapes. In 1955, Maldonado held his first exhibitions in Guayaquil, Portoviejo, and Esmeraldas. In 1956, Benjamin Carrion invited Maldonado to exhibit at the House of Ecuadorian Culture making him the first Ecuadorian artist to exhibit sculpture in Quito and Guayaquil. In 1957, Maldonado set out for Europe on a scholarship and traveled to France, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands and settled in Rome, Italy. Maldonado attended the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome and the Academy of San Giacomo. Maldonado's work depicts abstractions of nature. His ancestral roots are also evident in some of his works based on

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

imagery from his native

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

zone. At the same time, he is interested in the palpitation of the evolving Universe. It is because of this inherent curiosity with advancement and history that he has a place within the Latin American Constructivist art movement.

Vladimir Tatlin Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin ( – 31 May 1953) was a Russian and Soviet painter, architect and stage-designer. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed The Monument to the Third International, more commonly known as Tatlin's Tower, wh ...

founded Constructivism in Russia in 1913. Influenced by

Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects suc ...

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 ...

, this movement is based on abstract, geometric forms and is related to architectural ideas. The Constructivist movement made its way into Latin America by way of

Joaquín Torres García Joaquín or Joaquin is a male given name, the Spanish version of Joachim. Given name * Joaquín (footballer, born 1956), Spanish football midfielder * Joaquín (footballer, born 1981), Spanish football winger * Joaquín (footballer, born 1982 ...

and Manuel Rendón. Constructive Universalism is an innovative style created by Joaquín Torres García who after living in Europe for over forty years, returned to his native land,

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

and brought with him new artistic concepts. Constructive Universalism combines references to the Pre-Columbian world with the geometric forms of European Constructivism. Maldonado's work has been celebrated throughout the world for successfully combining nature with innovation while addressing the relationship to his Andean roots. In 2009, Maldonado was awarded the

Premio Eugenio Espejo The ''Premio Nacional Eugenio Espejo'' ("Eugenio Espejo National Award") is the national prize of the nation of Ecuador. Decrees 677 and 699 (of August 1975 and September 1997, respectively) established the prize, which is conferred by the President ...

, his country's most prestigious National Award for Art, Literature and Culture presented by the President of Ecuador.

Museums and exhibitions

* 1956 - House of Ecuadorian Culture,

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

, Ecuador * 1964 - Biennial of Venice,

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, Italy * 1974 - Center for the International Studies of Constructivist Art,

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

, Germany * 1974 - Marcon IV Gallery, Rome, Italy * 1977 - ''Abstract Currents in Ecuadorian Art'': Paintings by:

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters *Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South A ...

, Rendon, Tábara, Villacís,

Molinari Molinari is an Italian language occupational surname for a miller. Notable people with this surname include: * Adriana Molinari, American (née Argentine) pornographic actress * Alberto Molinari (born 1965), Italian actor, producer, and director ...

and Maldonado. Center for Inter-American Relations,

New York, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, U.S. * 1985 - First Latin American Symposium of Sculpture of

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, Dominican Republic * 1985 - Art Museum of the Americas,

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 Apri ...

(OAS), Washington, D.C. * 1986 - Ecuadorian Embassy,

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, Haiti * 1987 - I Biennial International Painting of River Basin, River Basin, Ecuador * 1987 - Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art (MoCHA), New York * 1988 - XX Biennial of São Paulo,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

, Brazil * 1991 - ''Masters of Latin America'',

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...

, Japan * 1994 - Gallery of Nadar Art,

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

* 1998 - Museum of Italian Art,

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, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

, Peru * 2000 - Pontifica Catholic University of Ecuador * 2000 - Museum of Modern Art,

Santiago, Chile Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the 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 region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

* 2000 - Exhibition,

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

* 2001 - Exposición Centro Cultural Metropolitano de Quito, Ecuador. * 2002 - Antología"1945-2002", Pontificia Universidad Católica de Ecuador. * 2002 - Sala Municipal de Exposiciones de Valencia. L'Almudí.Valencia, Spain * 2003 - Museo Luis Gonzalez Robles Alcalá de Henares. Madrid, Spain * 2004 - Banco Central del Ecuador. Quito, Ecuador. * 2004 - Galería Arte Jorge Ontiveros. Madrid, Spain * 2004 - Sala Ayuntamiento L'Olleria. ValenciaSpain * 2005 - Exposición en Chicago. Galería Aldo Castillo. * 2005 - Fundación Jaume II el Just. Real Monasterio Santa Maria Valldigna. Generalitat Valenciana (Simat de Valldigna). * 2005 - Sala Exposiciones Ayuntamiento de Elche. Alicante. España * 2005 - Aldo Castillo Gallery,

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USA * 2006 - The Katzen Art Center at American University, Washington, D.C., USA * 2006 - Sala Autoral, Estuardo Maldonado, Museo Antropologico y de Arte Contemporaneo (MAAC), Guayaquil, Ecuador. * 2007 - Galeria de Arte "CosmoArte Siglo XXV". Alicante, Spain * 2008 - Ministry of Foreign Trade and Integration - Ecuadorian Embassy in Germany, Berlin, Germany. * 2008 - ArtMadrid. Madrid. España * 2008 - Sala de Exposiciones Parque de atracciones "Terra Mitica" . Benidorm. Alicante, Spain * 2008 - Expo Zaragoza 2008. Pabellón de las Artes de Telefónica. Zaragoza, Spain

Sources

* Barnitz, Jacqueline, ''Twentieth-Century Art of Latin America''. University of Texas Press; Austin, Texas, 2001. * Salvat, ''Arte Contemporáneo de Ecuado. Salvat Editores Ecuatoriana, S.A.,

, Ecuador, 1977. * Sullivan, Edward J., ''Latin American Art in the Twentieth Century''. Phaidon Press Limited; London, 1996.

External links

Estuardo Maldonado Foundation
- https://fundacionestuardomaldonado.blogspot.com/ * Museo Antropologico y de Arte Contemporaneo - https://web.archive.org/web/20050306200121/http://www.maac.org.ec/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20060225143626/http://www.mmrree.gov.ec/
Aldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago, Illinois

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