Estuardo Maldonado

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Estuardo Maldonado (born 1928) is an Ecuadorian sculptor and painter inspired by the Constructivist movement. Maldonado is a member of VAN (Vanguardia Artística Nacional), the group of Informalist painters founded by Enrique Tábara. Other members of VAN included, Aníbal Villacís, Luis Molinari, Hugo Cifuentes, León Ricaurte and Gilberto Almeida. Maldonado's international presence is largely due to his participation in over a hundred exhibits outside of Ecuador.

Born in Píntag, in the Quito district of Ecuador, Maldonado left home at a young age in order to observe and learn from nature. Both nature and Indigenous themes have been a fundamental inspiration for much of his work. Maldonado studied art at the School of Fine Arts in Guayaquil. By 1953, Maldonado was teaching drawing and art history at the American School of Guayaquil. In 1955, Maldonado traveled the Ecuadorian coast painting the people of the coast and landscapes.

In 1955, Maldonado held his first exhibitions in Guayaquil, Portoviejo, and Esmeraldas. In 1956, Benjamin Carrion invited Maldonado to exhibit at the House of Ecuadorian Culture making him the first Ecuadorian artist to exhibit sculpture in Quito and Guayaquil. In 1957, Maldonado set out for Europe on a scholarship and traveled to France, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands and settled in Rome, Italy. Maldonado attended the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome and the Academy of San Giacomo.

Maldonado's work depicts abstractions of nature. His ancestral roots are also evident in some of his works based on pre-Columbian imagery from his native Andean zone. At the same time, he is interested in the palpitation of the evolving Universe. It is because of this inherent curiosity with advancement and history that he has a place within the Latin American Constructivist art movement.

Vladimir Tatlin founded Constructivism in Russia in 1913. Influenced by Futurism and Cubism, this movement is based on abstract, geometric forms and is related to architectural ideas. The Constructivist movement made its way into Latin America by way of Joaquín Torres García and Manuel Rendón. Constructive Universalism is an innovative style created by Joaquín Torres García who after living in Europe for over forty years, returned to his native land, Uruguay and brought with him new artistic concepts. Constructive Universalism combines references to the Pre-Columbian world with the geometric forms of European Constructivism.

Maldonado's work has been celebrated throughout the world for successfully combining nature with innovation while addressing the relationship to his Andean roots.

In 2009, Maldonado was awarded the Premio Eugenio Espejo, his country's most prestigious National Award for Art, Literature and Culture presented by the President of Ecuador.