In this text, Colombian writer Armando Romero proposes a revision to the career of Oswaldo Vigas, from his beginnings in Venezuelan painting (in 1942) through the end of the 1970s. His first assessment of the work—in relationship to his Latin American identity—is based on the notion of “spontaneity”; thereafter he describes each of the periods within Vigas’s work: geographic itineraries, and technical and thematic experiments. The account is accompanied by fragments of criticism that were developed around the artist’s work. The [author] again takes up the concept of “spontaneity” at the end [of the text] to describe Vigas’s continual development of the theme of the Americas.

This text by Colombian poet Armando Romero (b. 1944) pertains to the catalogue for the retrospective exhibition of Oswaldo Vigas (b. 1926) that brought together works created between 1943 and 1977, organized by the Galería de Arte Nacional (1979) in Caracas. As Manuel Espinoza, the director of the Galería, points out in the catalogue, the show was conceived as an homage and a platform for dissemination, and it served as recognition of the Venezuelan painter’s work within the national arts scene. In the text, the author refers to important moments in the life and career of Vigas, such as his beginnings in 1942, his work with the Taller Libre de Arte, and his move to Paris after winning the Premio Nacional de Artes Plásticas (1952). He also identifies Vigas’s principal influences during very different stages in his work: figurative art, the influences of Paul Cézanne and Wifredo Lam, geometric abstraction, and informalism. [The author] emphasizes his contact with the motifs of Venezuelan Pre-Columbian ceramics and referents from non-Western art, which led to the creation of his own aesthetic, which is closely connected to the roots of the continent. From various points of view, the end of the 1970s was an opportune moment to revisit the most relevant moments in his career. However, it is nevertheless surprising that neither the exhibition nor Romero’s text touches on his work from 1953 to 1964, which corresponds to Vigas’s stay in Paris. It is representative of his interest in abstraction and synthesis; and afterward, of his foray into lyrical abstraction with a gestural dominance. With respect to Vigas’s work, there are the texts by Marta Traba and Roberto Guevara [see the ICAA digital archive: “Oswaldo Vigas/Pinturas 1943–1973” [Oswaldo Vigas/Paintings 1943–1973] (doc. no. 1106962) and “Vigas: proceso abierto” [Vigas: Open Process] (doc. no. 1152753), respectively]. Montero Castro interviewed the artist in “Oswaldo Vigas: La lucha por descubrir la identidad americana” [Oswaldo Vigas: The Struggle to Discover the American Identity] (doc. no. 1168108); Lenelina Delgado’s text, “De la pintura al tapiz” [From Painting to Tapestry] (doc. no. 1153365); Joaquín Gabaldón wrote about La Bruja [The Witch] by Vigas in “La monstruosidad en el arte” [Monstrousness in Art] (doc. no. 850831). For more, see the text by Víctor Guédez, “La relación mitificación desmitificación de la pintura de Oswaldo Vigas” [The Mystification Demystification Relationship in the Painting of Oswaldo Vigas] (doc. no. 1153185); and by Juan Liscano, “La reiteración de Vigas” [The Reiteration of Vigas] (doc. no. 1152769)].