Background
Figari was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on June 29, 1861.
Pedro Figari's portrait.
Pedro Figari painting.
Pedro Figari.
artist lawyer politician writer
Figari was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, on June 29, 1861.
During his childhood, Pedro Figari showed a deep interest in art. However, most of his life was connected with the practice of law. In 1886 he received a degree in law. During the same year, Figari studied under the direction of Godofredo Sommavilla, an academically-trained Italian painter.
Despite his natural inclination towards art, Figari initially worked as a lawyer and journalist. As a lawyer, he was appointed a defender of the poor in Civil and Criminal in 1886. As a journalist, he co-directed a newspaper. Figari also participated significantly in the public life of his country and held numerous public positions such as Deputy, Member of the Council of State, President of the Ateneo de Montevideo, director of the National School of Arts and crafts, and legal advisor of the society of Uruguay architects. Among other things, he is remembered as an initiator of the creation of the Uruguay's school of arts in 1898.
In addition to his numerous activities, he also was a featured essayist of philosophy and a critic of art and poetry. Assay of biological philosophy (1912) enjoyed considerable success especially in France.
His astonishing artistic career did not begin until 1921, at age sixty, when he had his first show in Buenos Aires at the Galería Müller. For four years he dedicated himself exclusively to painting. Some of his most representative works, including Pericón in the courtyard of the stay, 1923, Cambacua, of the same year, or Pique Nique, 1925, were displayed at the Museum of Visual Arts in Montevideo. He became one of the founding members of the Sociedad Amigos del Arte in Buenos Aires (1924).
In 1925 he moved to Paris, where he stayed for nine years. This Parisian period is which consecrated him definitively as an artist. During that time he created some 3,000 cardboard designs consisting of social topics, landscapes, colonial patios, folk dances, black country women, horses, and gauchos.
In 1933 Pedro Figari returned permanently to Uruguay. Upon his return, he was appointed artistic Adviser of the Ministry of public instruction.
During his travels in Europe, Pedro Figari was exposed to a large about of Post-Impressionist art. His own artworks showed early modernist traits, as they had an emphasis on flatness and the surface of the canvas. Figari did not paint with the intention to depict a subject realistically. He painted to capture the ideas a feeling behind a piece.
Figari was the author of several books, including Art, Aesthetics and the Ideal (1912), in which he developed ideas taken from Herbert Spenser, and La historia Kiria (1930), the description of a Uruguayan utopia.
Toque de oración
Candombe
Vieja Estancia
Desafinación
Invitación al candombe
Damas antiguas
Circo
El encuentro
Insensibilidad
En la estancia
Desacuerdo
Del mercado
Nocturno
Candombe
La Volanta
Corrida de toros
Reproche
Entierro
Candombe
Bailecito
Camino
En el jardín
Carreta
Amanecer
Culto del lucro
Asociación
La boda
Entredicho
La coqueta
Pastelitos
Tapera
Nocturno en la Pampa
Diligencia
Candombe
Baile criollo
Sem titulo
Pedro Figari became a member of the National School of Arts and Crafts, and the National Welfare Board in 1909. In 1914 he joined the Comité France-Amérique. In 1924 he became a founding member of the Amigos del Arte Society (Friends of the Arts) of Buenos Aires. Figari was named a Member in perpetuity of the Universal Cultural Union of Seville.
In 1886 Pedro Figari married Maria de Castro Caravia.