Enrique Grau

Background

Enrique Grau was born in Panama City, Panama in 1920, into the family of Enrique Grau Velez and Carmen Araujo Jimenez. He was raised in Cartagena, Colombia.

Education

From 1940 to 1943, Enrique studied painting and graphical arts at the Arts Students League in New York, and from 1955 to 1956 at the San Marco Beaux Art Academy in Florence, Italy.

Career

Enrique Grauf started his career as a self-made artist. He won the Salón de Artistas Colombianos in 1957 launching a well noted career in the arts. His subjects, mostly Amerindian and Afro-Columbian figures, can be divided into three phases: from the early 1950s, lyrical, Impressionistic forms; following his trip to Florence in 1954, cubist figures; and after 1957, classicized female portraits showing the influence of his colleague, Alejandro Obregón.

His work has been exhibited extensively in major galleries and museums throughout the world and in several group exhibitions at Gary Nader gallery including the group exhibition Colombian Masters featuring selected Grau’s paintings, drawings and sculpture presented at Gary Nader fine art in Coral Gables. Both the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris have held major exhibitions of his work. Shortly before his death on April 1, 2004, Grau donated to the city of Cartagena over 1300 of his artworks for a new museum.

Achievements

• Enrique was best known for his prints, paintings, and murals.

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Maniquí

  • Untitled

  • Dos mujeres

  • Magola

  • Boy With Umbrella

  • El torero

  • Hombre con Maniquí

  • Juegos nocturnos

  • Sombrero de rosas

  • El sofá

  • In memoriam

  • Untitled

  • Mujer

  • Mujer con pájaros

  • Mesa con Frutas

Membership

Enrique was a member of the triumvirate of key Colombian artists of the 20th century.

Interests

• Artists

  Ignacio Gomez Jaramillo, Santiago Martinez Delgado and Pedro Nel Gómez

Connections

Father:

Enrique Grau Velez

Mother:

Carmen Araujo Jimenez

colleague:

Fernando Botero

colleague:

Alejandro Obregón

Friend:

Harry Sternberg

Friend:

Morris Kantor

Friend:

George Grosz

References

• Enrique Grau
  1981
• Enrique Grau: Homage
  2003
• Enrique Grau Artista Colombiano (Spanish Edition)
  1991