Camilo Egas

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Camilo Egas (b.1889, Quito, Ecuador; d. September 18, 1962, New York). Latin American master painter and teacher, active in the USA. Egas studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes, Quito from 1904-1911. In 1911, Egas received a government grant to study at the Regia Scuola di Belle Arti in Rome where he stayed until 1914. In 1920, Egas studied at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid.

Egas's ideology and aesthetic of the 1920s connect him to Spanish modernismo. The monumental style used in, Procession (1922), marked a transition period before he left for Paris. In 1923, Egas attended the Académie Colarrosi, exhibiting between 1924-1925 at the Salon des Indépendents and at the Salon d’Automne. Egas returned to Ecuador between 1925-1927 and played a pivotal role in forming the Indigenist Movement together with Oswaldo Guayasamin. The Indian theme seen in his work was related to the rise of Socialism and the constitution of Marxist parties in Latin America.

In 1926, Egas founded Ecuador’s first art periodical, Helice. By 1927, Egas settled in New York and consecutively assimilated various styles: firstly, social realism. Then Surrealism, neo-Cubism and finally Abstract Expressionism. In the 1930s, Egas's work included two murals, Harvesting Food in Ecuador: No Profit Motif in Any Face or Figure and Harvesting Food in North America. He began teaching in 1932 and was the first director of art of the New School for Social Research, New York. In 1939, Camilo Egas was responsible for decorating and painting a mural for the Ecuadorian Pavilion of the New York World's Fair; Egas was assisted by Eduardo Kingman. The Museo Camilo Egas in Quito was inaugurated in 1981 with a permanent exhibition of his work, now closed. The collection belongs to the Banco Central del Ecuador, and Museo Camilo Egas has been relocated to Venezuea 1302 y Esmeraldas esquina, close to Banco Central. Banco Central del Ecuador - Museo Camilo Egas