Bio

(1919-1999)

Born in Quito, Ecuador, Oswaldo Guayasamín is one of his country’s best-known artists. His early work from the 1940s reflects his interest in the country’s topography and its people, especially the working class. His heavily textured landscapes mirror the roughness of his native Andean country. His 1943 painting entitled Concentration Camp is a key work in the artist’s oeuvre which shows the artist’s own anxiety with confronting an increasingly violent world. His depictions of political prisoners, executed dissidents, and exploited workers are emblematic of the brutal world in which he sees himself in.