Pre-Columbian art
Colombia has revealed one of the continent's most extensive collections of cave art. Thousands of cave paintings have been unearthed in rock shelters in the Serranía de la Lindosa. Geometric patterns, human and animal figures have been dated to 12,600 years ago. Drawn in red ink, hunting scenes showing a multitude of animal species are punctuated by handprints.
The history of Colombia began long before the arrival of the colonists, and is divided into the Agricultural Era (-5000 to -1200) and the Golden Era, which lasted until 1500. The Parque arqueológico de San Agustín is a perfect summary of the enigmatic aspects of pre-Columbian culture. Its forest of statues, home to 600 stone-carved specimens, predates the Inca civilization. Four sites make up the largest group of religious megaliths in South America. What is most surprising is the diversity and mastery of styles. Abstraction and realism intermingle in the representations of deities and mythical animals.
The Parque arqueológico Tierradentro, in the Cordillera Central, also features admirable sculptures in a breathtakingly complex ensemble built thousands of years ago. The site of las Piedras Marcadas, in Dosquebradas Risaralda, is the work of one of the last pre-Columbian cultures. The petroglyphs were made by the Quimbayas, who were also known for their goldsmithing skills, including the Poporo Quimbaya(Museo del Oro, Bogotá), a highly detailed object whose function remains a mystery.
The Museo Nacional de Colombia, founded in 1823, boasts an archaeology department with 10,000 pieces, in addition to collections of paintings ranging from colonial art to the modern era.
Colonial art
From the discovery of America to the early 19th century, Spain imposed its religion and customs on the South American continent. The Conquest was accompanied by the cultural collapse of the indigenous peoples. Artistic expression, which until then had exalted man's relationship with the cosmos, was evangelized. European influence forced artists to turn to Catholic iconography. They assimilated European models, as can be seen today at Bogotá's Museo Colonial.
This period, whose beginnings coincide with the Renaissance in Europe, is initially imbued with models from Antiquity and the long tradition of Western religious art. Evangelization led to hybrid aesthetic proposals. Sculptures, paintings and furniture are strongly influenced by Spanish Baroque. The spirituality of expression is tinged with sensuality. The human figure is enriched by an expressiveness that cannot fail to move.
From the beginning of the Spanish period, religious communities - Jesuits, Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites and then Augustinians - built their places of worship and passed on the codes of European art. Churches were adorned with sacred works, as in Popayán, one of the country's main religious centers. Today, Popayán's museo arquidiocesiano de arte religioso houses an exceptional collection of objects, photos and paintings.
In the 17th century, the colonial art produced in Colombia gradually moved away from the Spanish Baroque, the fruit of the Counter-Reformation. Painters and sculptors reappropriated the codes, adapting them to their environment and traditions. The great painter of the Spanish colonial period, Gregorio Vásquez de Arce (1638-1711) was born in Bogotá, and grew up in a Sevillian family that had come to America. He studied with the Jesuits, then in the Figueroa workshop. His career took off at the height of the Spanish-American Baroque style. Most of his themes were religious. However, he was imprisoned in 1701 for his part in the kidnapping of a magistrate's mistress. On his release, he sank into poverty, then madness. He left behind over 70 paintings and a hundred drawings. Several of his paintings can be seen in Bogotá's Capilla del Sagrario; Portrait of Father Centurion, at Bogotá's Museo Colonial .
In sculpture, the pinnacle of Neo-Grenadino art is reached with a famous wooden statue of Saint Barbara. It was selected to represent Colombian Baroque at the exhibition held at the Louvre Museum as part of the France-Colombia Year 2017. Strongly influenced by the Seville school, this larger-than-life work is characterized by its voluptuous forms, delicate execution, and expressiveness that exalts sacred martyrdom.
Costumbrismo and modernism
From 1830 onwards, this Hispanic trend affected all the arts. Its aim was to faithfully reflect the habits and customs of the country. In Colombia, costumbrismo is represented by the painter and lithographer Ramon Torres Méndez (1809-1885). Born in Bogotá, this extremely prolific artist excelled in genre scenes. His works magnificently document everyday life, the trades and occupations of the population. Self-taught, he opened his studio on his return from the war with Venezuela in 1834. He produced over 600 portraits. In 1861, he saved 70 paintings by religious communities from destruction, and dedicated an exhibition to them.
Located in the birthplace of Ramon Torres Méndez, the Museo de arte moderno de Bogotá, or MAMBO, brings together works from the late 19th century to the present day. Modern art from Colombia, Latin America and Europe is abundantly represented, notably through a photography department. The permanent collection of Colombian artists includes works by Ricardo Acevedo Bernal (1867-1930), who developed his career between Bogotá and Europe. He practiced photography for a long time, and painted portraits of many of the leading figures of his time, before concentrating on religious painting.
Colombians brought back modern European trends from their travels.
Enrique Grau, the neo-figurative
Artists such as Enrique Grau (1920-2004) began by exploring the lessons of Cubism, before blending innovations with the imagery of their homeland. Enrique Grau, known as the master of figurative expressionism, then of neo-figurative art, turned for a time to "metaphysical" painting, in the tradition of Italian painters. He is renowned for his portraits of Amerindians and Afro-Colombians. In 1940, he went to New York for further training, before returning to Europe. In Italy, he learned the art of fresco and engraving before settling in Cartagena. It was here that he produced the largest number of his works, including sculptures(The Kiss), and donated some 1,000 works with the aim of creating a museum: the Casa Museo Grau. Some of his works are on display at Cartagena's Museo de arte moderno. He is one of the three great masters of 20th-century Colombian art, along with Obregón and Botero.
Alejandro Obregón, the unclassifiable
Alejandro Jesús Obregón Roses was born in Barcelona in 1920 and died in Cartagena in 1992. A painter, muralist, sculptor and engraver, he worked in various professions on both sides of the Atlantic, including truck driver and vice-consul, before embarking on a self-taught artistic training course. In Barcelona, he copied the great classical masters, married and returned to Colombia. There, in 1944 and 1945, he took part in the Salons of Colombian Artists. He too was hailed as a genius of figurative expressionism. In the 1950s, he joined the Barranquilla Group, a circle of intellectuals that brought together writers, journalists and philosophers, including Gabriel García Márquez. Promoted to director of the Santa Fé School of Fine Arts, Obregón renewed his teaching methods. In 1949, he returned to Europe, met Picasso and returned to Colombia. His Cubist-inspired period began withDoors and Space (1951). In 1955, the Museum of Modern Art in New York bought his Souvenir de Venise, after which he received numerous awards. The works that consolidated his reputation were Violencia (1962) and Le Magicien des Caraïbes (1961). In the 1970s, he produced murals, including Cosas de Aire for the BBVA Bank of Colombia.
Bogotá's Museo de arte moderno regularly devotes retrospectives to his work, highlighting his fascination with Colombia's wilderness and the elements. The condor, symbol of the nation, appears in some 50 of his works. Political events are also the subject of pictorial creations. His public sculptures adorn the country's squares, as in Bogotá and Barranquilla.
The curves of Fernando Botero
The third great master of Colombian art, Fernando Botero, who was born in Medellín in 1932 and died in Monaco in September 2023, was known to the general public for his voluptuous figures. His career took off following the Salon of Colombian Artists in 1958. His 1957 Still Life with Mandolin already shows that he drew his inspiration from pre-Columbian and folk art. Botero is not a mainstream artist, but a figurative one, who endlessly transforms still life, the female nude, everyday life and even bullfighting, the colors and energy of which he loved so much.
To draw his portraits with enlarged features, he didn't rely on any case studies. His imagination was his primary source of inspiration. He also liked to hijack art-historical masterpieces on occasion, such as Mona Lisa at the age of twelve or the Meninas, and even enjoyed painting a Self-portrait as Velázquez. Botero has never hidden the fact that he is strongly influenced by European art. However, his figures retain a certain neutrality, and seem detached from any real emotion. Similarly, his sculptures are based on archaic models. He experimented with a number of approaches before embarking on his own sculptural creations. In 1973, he settled in Paris and began training in bronze. He pursued his sculptural work for several years, an approach that was recognized in an exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris (1977), featuring 13 sculptural works.
In Bogotá's La Candelaria district, the Museo Botero (free to all) houses the artist's gift to Colombia: 123 varied creations by Botero, surrounded by other major artists such as Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró and Pablo Picasso. In Medellín, the Museo de Antioquia is the place to go to admire the hundred or so works donated by the artist.
Contemporary scene
Colombia's contemporary art scene is bursting with dynamism. Several major contemporary art museums across the country showcase the rising generation. These include the Museo de arte moderno de Medellín (MAMM), which houses a collection of works by Débora Arango (1907-2005), the first Colombian painter to depict the female nude, and Oscar Muñoz (b. 1951), a painter of shades and transience.
The Museo La Tertulia in Cali boasts an important collection of American and Colombian art, as well as an open-air theater.
Since the 2000s, Colombia has been the scene of an unprecedented artistic effervescence. Its vitality is palpable even in the streets. Like all the country's major cities, the capital is experiencing a strong craze for urban art. Colors fill the walls like a collective therapy that softens inequalities. Among street artists, Felipe Cespedes paints figures inspired by the legendary animals and sacred plants of the Amazon, in a geometric style.
In every city, street art offers residents the opportunity to express themselves. Collectives and associations are organizing to encourage people to spread positive messages. And so, despite the tensions, in Bogotá, Medellín and Barranquilla, Colombia is alive with a multitude of artistic innovations, which tourists can also enjoy. Graffiti tours are springing up everywhere, accompanied by artists on foot - such as the Graffitour Comuna 13 in Medellín - or by bike - such as the Graffiti Bike Tour in Bogotá.
