De Enciclopedia | La Red Cultural del Banco de la República
Timeline
- 1907: Born in Medellin, the eighth daughter in a large family.
- 1920: After falling ill with malaria, she returns from her sister's house in La Estrella to Medellín with her parents, and enters the María Auxiliadora School.
- 1932: Begins taking classes with Eladio Vélez and enters the Institute of Fine Arts in Medellín.
- 1935: After seeing the murals of Pedro Nel Gómez in the Municipal Palace, she decides to become his student.
- 1937: Participates in the painting exhibition at Club La Unión in Medellín with the other students of Pedro Nel Gómez.
- 1938: Abandons classes with Pedro Nel Gómez and dedicates herself to painting in her workshop.
- 1939: Wins first prize in the Exhibition of Professional Artists at the Club La Union in Medellin, generating controversy in Medellín high society for including two nudes.
- 1940: Invited by Jorge Eliécer Gaitán, she holds a solo exhibition at Teatro Colón in Bogotá, which is soon closed under pressure from the Bogotá high society, spearheaded by Laureano Gómez.
- 1944: Forms the group Los Independientes with other artists, proposing mural painting as art for the people.
- 1946: Travels to Mexico to study mural painting at the National School of Fine Arts.
- 1948: Completes the mural on fique collection at Compañía de Empaques de Medellín.
- 1953: Travels to Spain to study at the San Fernando Academy.
- 1955: Works exhibited at the Institute of Hispanic Culture in Madrid are taken down by Franco's government without any explanation.
- 1957: Decides to take down her solo exhibition at Casa Mariana in Medellin under political pressure.
- 1957: Travels to London to study ceramics and painting at the Reading Technical College in London.
- 1960: Retreats to her home La Casablanca in Envigado.
- 1975: Retrospective exhibition of her work at the Pilot Public Library of Medellín, curated by Elkin Alberto Mesa.
- 1977: Her works participate in the MAMBO (Bogotá Museum of Modern Art) exhibition Art and Politics, organized by Eugenio Barney.
- 1980: exhibition Antioquia and the Seventies (Antioquia y la Década de los setenta) at MAMM (Medellín Museum of Modern Art) includes works by Débora Arango.
- 1981: Participates in the exhibition Ten Masters from Antioquia (Diez Maestros Antioqueños), curated by the painter Jorge Cárdenas.
- 1984: Retrospective exhibition curated by Alberto Sierra at MAMM, traveling to BLAA (Luis Ángel Arango Library).
- 1986: Donates 233 of her own works to MAMM.
- 1996: BLAA holds one of the largest retrospective exhibitions with 269 of her works.
- 2004: The Ministry of Culture declares 233 of her works to be of national cultural interest.
- 2005: Dies at home in Envigado.
- 2016: Banco de la República launches its new collection of banknotes, among which is the new 2,000 peso banknote that is a tribute to the artist.[3]
