Description: This is an expressive and evocative Vintage Old Latin Venezuela Outsider Folk Art Painting, Oil on Paper, by the esteemed and seldomly seen Venezuelan vernacular artist, Esteban Mendoza (1936 - 2014.) This artwork appears to depict a self-portrait of the artist in profile, surrounded by bold blue stars. Standing on a star above the central figure is Jesus Christ himself, pulling on strings connected to the yellow hat of the figure, likely symbolic of the Christain teachings that control the mind of the painter, Esteban Mendoza. Behind the self-portrait of the artist is a Venezuelan flag, and near him is a bottle of liquor, and what looks like a pizza (?) Signed: "ESTEBAN MENDOZA." This piece likely dates to the 1970's - 1980's. Approximately 21 3/8 x 25 1/8 inches (including frame.) Actual artwork is approximately 16 5/8 x 20 1/4 inches. Very good condition for age, with mild - moderate scuffing and edge wear to the vintage wood frame (please see photos.) Mendoza has been featured in numerous Venezuelan contemporary art books from the 1970's - 1980's, and his original paintings reside in the Museo de Arte Coro, Venezuela. Acquired in Los Angeles County, California. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks! About the Artist: Esteban Mendoza Born: 1936Died: 2014Known for: Painting, sculpture Esteban Mendoza (1936 - 2014) was active/lived in Venezuela. Esteban Mendoza is known for Painting, sculpture. Esteban MendozaBorn in Caracas, Venezuela* Painter, Sculptor, Carver, CraftsmanSTUDIES1. Artistic work practices, Professor Feliciano Carvallo In this critical essay introducing the book Pintores populares de Caracas (1976), Perán Erminy explains his view of the problems of the valorization and understanding of vernacular art. The author clarifies that he was not responsible for the selection of artists and works, many of them portraits, chosen for the book. He considers the distinction between popular and high art unjust and based on a biased reading insofar as the former is deemed to entail lesser skill and the latter greater sophistication. On the basis of an anthropological notion of culture, Erminy also discredits those who hold popular art above high art when, in the end, both are outgrowths of the Renaissance tradition. Erminy looks to contemporary criticism from Venezuela to combat the commercialization of popular art, which in his view, runs the risk of losing sight of its original values. With this theoretical essay, painter and critic Perán Erminy (1929–2018) joins other Venezuelan intellectuals (Alfredo Boulton, Francisco Da Antonio, and Juan Calzadilla) in addressing the concept and valorization of popular art. Erminy maintains that the terms “naive” and “primitive,” and even “natural”—which Manuel Quintana Castillo uses in “Feliciano, los ingenuos y el ingenuismo” (1967)—are not relevant to popular art. The text makes use of concepts taken from the social sciences, specifically anthropology and linguistics. Owing to prints and photographs, popular artists are versed in the models of high art, Erminy argues. The urban marginality experienced by popular artists is, in the author’s view, due to lingering nostalgia for peasant life and culture. Erminy is careful not to mystify popular art, since its value varies from case to case: some is merely commercial, some entails imitation of prestigious models, and some is lacking in any artistic merit whatsoever. Erminy’s primary objection to photographer Godofredo Romero’s selection of illustrations for the book is that it furthers the commercialization of popular art. It is striking that the book’s coauthors disagree to such an extent. Indeed, only seven of the twenty-seven artists in the book are remembered: Apolinar, AlĂ Bioscán, Cruz Amado FagĂşndez, Esteban Mendoza, VĂctor Millán, Elsa Morales, and ManasĂ©s RodrĂguez. Although artist JosĂ© Arecio PĂ©rez’s work is also of interest, he would never be heard from again. In 1992, the GalerĂa de Arte Nacional and the FundaciĂłn Bigott organized the exhibition Imágenes del genio popular, whose catalogue included another text by Erminy that addresses the same topics discussed in these writings from 1976, although now in relation to a more rigorous selection of twelve artists.
Price: 1350 USD
Location: Orange, California
End Time: 2024-08-12T01:36:59.000Z
Shipping Cost: 45 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Artist: Esteban Mendoza
Signed By: Esteban Mendoza
Size: Medium
Signed: Yes
Period: Contemporary (1970 - 2020)
Material: Paper, Oil
Region of Origin: California, USA
Framing: Framed
Subject: Animal Head, Biblical, Cartoons & Caricatures, Christ, Community Life, Figures, Men, Mythology, Silhouettes, Stars, States & Counties, Still Life, Street Art, Working Life, Venezuela, Caracas
Type: Painting
Year of Production: 1970
Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
Item Height: 25 1/8 in
Style: Expressionism, Figurative Art, Folk Art, Modernism, Outsider Art, Portraiture, Surrealism
Theme: Art, Biblical, Continents & Countries, Cultures & Ethnicities, Exhibitions, Famous Places, Fashion, Food & Drink, Mythological, People, Politics, Portrait, Religious, Social History
Features: One of a Kind (OOAK)
Country/Region of Manufacture: Venezuela
Production Technique: Oil Painting
Item Width: 21 3/8 in
Handmade: Yes
Time Period Produced: 1970-1979
