Quito is the capital and the largest city of Ecuador, and at an elevation of 2,850 metres (9,350 ft) above sea level, it is the second-highest official capital city in the world, after La Paz, and the one which is closest to the equator. It is located in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains.
Félix Aráuz is an Ecuadorian painter. Aráuz is among the art circles of Enrique Tábara, Aníbal Villacís, José Carreño and Juan Villafuerte. In 1957, Aráuz began studying under César Andrade Faini at the School of Fine Arts. During his second year, his father died leaving Aráuz feeling nostalgic and isolated. Aráuz funneled his emotions into his work creating some of the most beautiful, heartfelt and dreamlike imagery to date. Both his use of color and his compositions are strong and designed to leave a lasting impression on the viewer. Aráuz's subjects usually include surreal flower arrangements, the innocence of children, faces, 'trees of life', landscapes and abstracts - all of which are created with a personal dreamlike aesthetic.
Theo Constanté Parra was a master Latin American painter part of the Abstract Informalist Movement in Ecuador. In 2005, Constanté won the country's most prestigious award for art, literature and culture, the Premio Eugenio Espejo National Award, presented by the President of Ecuador. Constanté's works are abstract in nature and consist of many colors which meld together amongst loosely drawn geometric lines. Constanté stated that his favorite colors were red, orange and blue and they are the colors that are typically more dominant in his work.
Luis Enrique Tábara is a master Ecuadorian painter and teacher representing a whole Hispanic pictorial and artistic culture.
Carlos Catasse, born Carlos Tapia Sepúlveda in Santiago, Chile, formed his new last name by combining the first two letters of his first, middle and last names. Catasse is a Chilean painter of international recognition. Since 1969, he has lived and painted in Quito, Ecuador, the country that in 1986 granted him with Ecuador’s National Prize for Painting, the Premio Eugenio Espejo. Catasse has had a great number of individual exhibitions throughout Latin America, as well as, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Spain, and the United States. After Catasse died in Quito, Ecuador at the age of 65, his remains were cremated in a cemetery in the Ecuadorian capital, and there are plans to open a gallery exhibition of his works.
Aníbal Villacís was a master painter from Ecuador who used raw earthen materials such as clay and natural pigments to paint on walls and doors throughout his city when he could not afford expensive artist materials. As a teenager, Villacís taught himself drawing and composition by studying and recreating the illustrated ad posters for bullfights in Quito. In 1952, Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra, former President of Ecuador, discovered Villacís and offered him a scholarship to study in Paris.
Judith Gutiérrez Moscoso was an Ecuadorian painter who lived and worked in Ecuador and Mexico. Along with other female artists, she formed part of the Guayaquil School for Contemporary Plastic Arts and was active in militant groups such as the Union of the Women of Guayas, a precursor to Ecuadorian feminist organizations.
Camilo Egas was an Ecuadorian master painter and teacher, who was also active in the United States and Europe.
Estuardo Maldonado is a Latin American sculptor and painter inspired by the Constructivist movement. Maldonado is a member of VAN, 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.
Luis Miranda was an Ecuadorian master painter.
Jorge Velarde is a Contemporary Latin American painter from Ecuador. Velarde has been drawing and painting since he was a child. At the age of 15 Velarde knew that he was meant to be a painter.
Xavier Blum Pinto is an Ecuadorian artist. From 1974 to 1976 he studied architecture at the Universidad Catolica Santiago de Guayaquil, in Ecuador. In 1981, obtained his MA in Fine Arts from the Universitė of Paris VIII, France.
Eduardo X Arroyo is an Ecuadorian painter.
Enrique Gil Gilbert was an Ecuadorian novelist, journalist, poet, and a high-ranking member of the Communist Party of Ecuador.
José Carreño is an Ecuadorian painter who studied in Paris. His first important group exhibition was held in 1965 when he attended the Latin American Painting Hall in Braniff, Texas, United States. During this time, his work revolved around the suburban based expressionism. Perhaps this exhibit paved the way for the international projection of Carreño's work. Shortly after the event his name became well known in many countries.
Fernando Maldonado. Colombian artist, Bogotá, Colombia, born 1962. Painter, draftsman and sculptor. He studied Fine Arts at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University. Represented Colombia in the Hall Comparaisons Paris, France (2008), and the VI International Painting Biennial of Cuenca, Ecuador (1994).
Gilberto Almeida Egas was an Ecuadorian painter born in San Antonio de Ibarra, in Imbabura Province. He studied at the School of Fine Arts in Quito from 1953-1957. His early work was in many media, especially paintings of buildings and views in old Quito; his later work concentrated on large black-and-white drawings, in a baroque, expressionistic, and dramatic style.
Presley Norton Yoder was an Ecuadorian archeologist and entrepreneur.
Gonzalo Amancha is an Ecuadorian master watercolor painter.
