Estuardo Maldonado Biography
Estuardo Maldonado (1928 - ), Ecuadorian painter and sculptor, born in Pintag (Pichincha province) in 1928. He belongs to the constructivist (conceptualist-material) current. After studying at the School of Fine Arts of Guayaquil, he went to Rome with a scholarship to complete his education at the School of Fine Arts (1955). In Europe, outside the Academy, he received a particular influence from the painter Klee, who taught him the strength of simplicity and the inexhaustible possibilities of the sign. In the 70s he began to consolidate his personal style and to radicalize the search for the fundamental sign in the "S" (a sign already present in pre-Columbian times). This sign acquires a hermetic meaning for him, with its play of verticals - symbol of the vital impetus of ascent from the abyss and descent towards it - and its horizontal lines, symbols of stages of permanence. He has participated in numerous biennials, mainly in Europe, and has exhibited his works in individual exhibitions through the best galleries in the world. His paintings can be found in numerous private collections and in more than twenty international museums. Among his compositions several murals in public buildings in Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Bologna, Caracas, Quito and Guayaquil also stand out. Some of the prizes won are the 1st International Prize of the Artistic Association of Rome (1961), the 1st National Prize of Art Students in Italy (1962), the 1st Prize of the Biennale of Sacred Art (Italy, 1966) and the I Corciano International Prize (Perugia, Italy, 1969).
