Juan Cárdenas Arroyo (12 August 1939 – 15 December 2024) was a Colombian figurative painter.

Life and career

Cárdenas was born 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 ...

, Cauca, on 12 August 1939. In 1962 he studied painting at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, in the United States.Theran, Susan (1999).
Leonard's Price Index of Latin American Art at Auction
'. Springer. p. 44. . His career began as a cartoonist in '' El Tiempo'', ''

La República ''La República'' () is a Peruvian newspaper based in Lima, Peru. It is one of the two main national daily newspapers sold all over the country since it was founded on November 16, 1981. History Founding and early history The paper was fou ...

'', ''

El Espacio ''El Espacio'' (meaning "The Space") is a Colombian newspaper from Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial per ...

'', and in the magazine ''Flash''. He was jailed for a cartoon. From 1969 to 1972 he was professor of Painting, Drawing, and Anatomy,

University of the Andes, Colombia The University of the Andes (), also commonly self-styled as Uniandes, is a private research university located in the city centre of Bogotá, Colombia. Founded in 1948 by a group of Colombian intellectuals led by Mario Laserna Pinzón, it was ...

. He participated in and won first prize in the 25th National Salon of Colombian Artists in 1974 for his self-portrait ("Autorretrato Dibujo"). Cárdenas was also involved with the 1994 re-design of the

Colombian peso The Colombian peso (currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: COP) is the currency of Colombia. Its ISO 4217 code is ''COP''. The official sign is $, with ''Col$''. also being used to distinguish it from other peso- and dollar-denominated currencie ...

: he designed the $5,000 and $20,000 banknotes. In 2022 he was awarded the

Order of Boyacá The Order of Boyacá () is the highest peacetime decoration of Colombia. The order is awarded for exceptional service to distinguished Colombian military officers and civilians as well as foreign citizens of friendly nations. Established in 1922, ...

, his country's highest peacetime decoration. Cárdenas died on 15 December 2024, at the age of 85.El arte está de luto: Murió el pintor y caricaturista Juan Cárdenas

Notes

References

* ''Great Encyclopedia of Colombia'', Circulo de Lectores, Bogotá * ''Art of Colombia'', Salvat, Bogotá 1939 births 2024 deaths Colombian painters Colombian male painters Columbia University alumni Rhode Island School of Design alumni Arroyo family People from Popayán {{colombia-painter-stub