Quito, Jul 4 (EFE).- The Ecuadoran Ministry of Culture this week re-opened the Camilo Egas art center in this capital, honoring the pioneer of the country’s indigenous realism style.
The museum features one of the late Egas’s most important modern collections, Ivete Celi, sub-secretary of the Ministry of Culture’s Social Memory department, told EFE.
The work by the artist – who died in New York in 1963 – spans “artistic currents,” featuring as many as 46 pieces, among which are an assortment of oil paintings, engravings and sketches that evince the artist’s versatility.
Among the most important pieces is 1916’s “Las Floristas” (The Flower Women), a modernist piece that portrays a snapshot of every-day indigenous life, combining academic realism and impressionism, as well as adding a social component by putting the role of women in the forefront.
The exhibit also includes paintings done during Egas’s stay in New York, which feature an expressionist inclination, also delving into fractionism and cubism, Celi said.
The sub-secretary also said that Egas’s paintings represent a part of his personality, adding that his work showcases a variety of styles, earning the creator a place among Ecuador’s greatest artists.
With the re-opening, the museum aims to revisit Egas’s artistic career, which inspired other important artists, such as Pedro Leon and the great Oswaldo Guayasamin.
The center is divided into four halls, each of which showcases a particular stage in the artist’s career, starting off with his trademark indigenist style and segueing into his impressionist, expressionist and cubist stages, ending with the absolute abstraction that mirror his last days.