Translations:Alejandro Obregón/11/en

Featured works

Among the works that combined aesthetic experimentation with the reality of the moment, Masacre 10 de abril (April 10 Massacre) stands out, demonstrating Picasso's strong influence on Obregón’s output during this period. So too El estudiante muerto (The Dead Student), 1957, and Luto por un estudiante (Mourning a Student), 1957, allude to the events that took place during the government of General Gustavo Rojas Pinilla, along with Homenaje al cura Camilo (Homage to Father Camilo), 1968. On the other hand, works that exhibit Obregón fascination with Colombian nature include Pez Dorado (Goldfish), 1947, Nube Gris (Gray Cloud), 1948, Ganado ahogándose en el Magdalena (Cattle Drowning in the Magdalena), 1955, Cóndor de los Andes (Condor of the Andes), 1959, and Toro-Cóndor (Bull-Condor), 1960. As far as murals, there are several in Bogotá, some in private homes and others in public space. The most outstanding is the mural in the Luis Angel Arango Library, completed in 1959. That same year, Marta Traba wrote: "The creation of spaces, determined either by the intersection of planes or by the handling of tones, is the most notable aspect of this fresco by Obregón. With the exception of a handful of recognizable objects (an inkwell, books, a knife), there is no figurative intention, and therefore the viewer must renounce any real understanding, which has been overcome by the space-creating intention and by the relationships between colors." The mural in the Luis Angel Arango Library is a rich and diverse work, in which the structure of the forms and the varied but assorted and severe coloring are notable, in addition to its multiple spaces, an example of the masterpieces of Obregón’s best moments. Murals from the eighties include La galerna (The Gale) at the Cartagena Convention Center, Amanecer en los Andes (Dawn Over the Andes) at the United Nations headquarters in New York, and the one that adorns the Elliptical Hall at the National Capitol in Bogotá [See physical Volume 6, Art, p. 125 and 126].