Armando Reverón: the master of light

nancybriti (69)in OCD • 4 years ago

Armando Reverón: the master of light

Hello, kind readers

Reviewing some notes, I thought it was interesting to share with you the life and work of some Venezuelans who have made history not only inside the country but also outside it. With this series I intend to explore the life, work, styles and particularities of some of the Venezuelans who have most influenced and inspired, both in their artistic, professional and personal facets and who are references in the Venezuelan history of this century.

I will make this selection of personalities without any order and without taking into account a particular profession; it will only deprive in the choice, that is a famous Venezuelan of the twentieth and twenty-first century. As in any selection, surely some personalities will remain outside, so I would be delighted if you could give your opinion and say which Venezuelan, of any profession, have transcended for the work they do or have done. I hope that we can, with these posts, not only inform us, but also give greater visibility to the quantity of talents that exist in Venezuela and that unfortunately, in some occasions, are not recognized. Let's start this series with the best plastic artist of Venezuela during the 20th century: Armando Reverón.

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Armando Reverón was born in May, but in 1889, and is considered one of the best plastic artists of the 20th century in Latin America. He studied at the Academia de Bellas Artes in Caracas and thanks to a scholarship, he continued his studies in Spain; he also had the opportunity to visit Paris. Among the teachers Reverón had, José Ruiz Blanco, Picasso's father; José Moreno Carbonero, Dalí's teacher, and the Spanish painter Antonio Muñoz stand out. This contact with European schools and artists was a determining factor in his work, as his painting is influenced by Spanish classics.

Throughout his life, in his work, he tackled the religious theme, still lifes, the figure, the marine landscape, the self-portrait and the female nude; the latter two were the most recurrent in his production. He also experimented with rudimentary techniques, materials and supports, incorporating elements such as moss, oakum and iron oxide.

According to some scholars, Reverón's work was divided into three major stages:

Figure under a uvero

Blue period

Blue tones predominate and it is believed that there is a very marked influence by the painter Nicolás Ferdinandov, who encouraged him to look for certain colors that would give the true color of the landscape that surrounded him, of the forms that he imagined. The works of this stage are characterized by a sensual, mysterious atmosphere.

Uveros

White period

This is one of the most important stages of his work and influential for other artists. The excessive and consequent use of white sought to express "the light", that one could "see the light". With this visual and chromatic experiment he not only transformed his work but also distinguished himself within Latin American art. In this period we are going to find that Reverón paints many landscapes, which will allow him to appreciate the tonalities of light.

Self-portrait with dolls

Sepia period

This period, as its name indicates, was sustained in the use of brown colors, creams, ochres. It abandons white and tries to use the colours of its living environment, near the beach, on a coastline. During this period he painted nudes and marinas.

Exhibition of dolls

There are some critics who dare to point out another period, visualized as an expressionist period, which became as a consequence of his illness. In this period, which they usually establish between the late 1940s and early 1950s, the painter took refuge in a universe imagined and created by him, made up of objects and dolls.

Reverón's dolls, the famous Serafina, have become one of the most peculiar, enigmatic, colourful, sad and even unique pieces in his work. At first they were dolls that the painter used for his paintings, but later they came to belong to that imaginary world in which his last years were isolated. All the dolls are handmade, with rudimentary materials, among which fabric, cardboard and threads predominate. Although they can be perceived as simple monigotes, those who have seen them personally say that they acquire for the moment a life of their own and certain gestures can be seen.

Doll

If we had to highlight three events or curiosities of this great painter it would be, on the one hand, his biography and his illness. It is said that it is not known for sure who Reverón's parents were and that for this reason he was raised by a relative. Supposedly, by the continuous baths in a river, he suffers from Typhoid Fever, which provoked in him hallucinations, delusions and recurrent nightmares. All this turns Reverón into a withdrawn, introverted, self-absorbed child; later he would fall into depressive states and psychosis crisis. This type of behaviour would accompany him until his death.

Reverón and Juanita

Another of the peculiar things we could point out is the relationship he had with Juanita Mota, his wife (married in articulo mortis), who accompanied him since she was 14 years old and who not only served as a companion in the illness and in her isolation, but also in the miseries they had to live and as a muse for their works. Many of the things that are known about Reverón, were said by Juanita that became the memory of a man who loved until the last day of his life.

We must also mention that Reverón isolated himself from the world in a castle he built with his own hands in Macuto, known as El Castillete, with the only company of Juanita and her rag dolls. There he remained for about 30 years, until in 1935 he was imprisoned in Sanatorio San Jorge, in Caracas. It is said that this space that served as his workshop and home became his fortress, his world. Here he adopted primitive habits and tried to get away from the city, to be closer to nature. He himself said at one time:

"I came here to find simplicity and found reality"

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In this space he tried to create his world. The people who knew him say that he was a man detached from material things, with a childish character and that he always tried to help people in the village, writing letters to people who did not know how to write. But not everything was rosy, because due to some of his behaviors and some of his crises, he was known as El loco de Macuto and there were even people who hurt him. Venezuelan artist Lía Bermúdez says the same in an interview:

"It was difficult for me to receive him. I rang the bell several times and I said: Master, master. I come from Maracaibo to see how he's doing. He, a little embarrassed, said to me: 'I can't take care of anyone because they do a lot of bad things to me. I'm not well, because the neighbors throw stones at me.

Like many artists, his work gained recognition after his death. Armando Reverón is the author of some 600 pieces and is the first Venezuelan, and the fourth Latin American, to which MoMA dedicates a retrospective. Honor, whom honor he deserves.

I hope you liked the beginning of this series. I hope to continue to count on your reading. Until the next delivery, folks.