GENERAL DESCRIPTION
This painting is Alejandro Obregón’s seminal work reacting to the violent turmoil of the Colombian civil war. Beginning in 1948, political and social chaos plagued the population of Bogotá and beyond, leaving as many as 250,000 dead. This period of national calamity came to be known as La Violencia, and it inspired artists like Obregón to use their work as both a record and commemoration. Here a single slain victim receives mourners. Obregón uses abstraction to visually define the assemblage of objects at the memorial and animate the vigil.
Excerpt from
Erin Piñon, Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.
NOTES
Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, 2017.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Alejandro Obregón: ULAN: 500020012
Cultures
Geography
Spain (nation): TGN: 1000095
Barcelona (Spain): TGN: 7007426
Colombia (nation): TGN: 1000050
Cartagena (inhabited place / Spain): TGN: 7007590
Bogotá (Colombia): TGN: 7005070
Process/materials
oil paint: AAT: 300015050
canvas: AAT: 300014078
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
painting (visual works): AAT: 300033618
dead (people): AAT: 300389809
bodies (human and animal components): AAT: 300404640
deaths: AAT: 300151836
mourning: AAT: 300238450
violence: AAT: 300192799
wars: AAT: 300055314
battles: AAT: 300185692
civil wars: AAT: 300055315
politics: AAT: 300055537
chaos (concepts): AAT: 300247349
population (demographics): AAT: 300055417
records (documents): AAT: 300026685
commemoratives (objects): AAT: 300235430
abstract: AAT: 300108127
abstraction: AAT: 300056508
assemblage (technique): AAT: 300138696
objects: AAT: 300312158
memorials (Structures): AAT: 300006956
memory: AAT: 300254803
paint (coating): AAT: 300015029
paint layers: AAT: 300178450
brush strokes: AAT: 300185434
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
form (composition concepts): AAT: 300056272
geometric shape: AAT: 300263819
geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764
geometric abstraction: AAT: 300056509
curves (geometric figures): AAT: 300378887
curvilinear (shape): AAT: 300154222
lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279
circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627
squares (geometric figures): AAT: 300055637
triangles (polygons): AAT: 300009806
apple (fruit/plants): AAT: 300266417
buds: AAT: 300375399
flower (motif): AAT: 300375563
plant-derived motifs: AAT: 300164599
animals (Animalia kingdom): AAT: 300249395
birds (animals): AAT: 300266506
birds (motifs): AAT: 300375751
wheels: AAT: 300024976
tables (support furniture): AAT: 300039548
easels (furniture): AAT: 300079638
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1959: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas Art Association Purchase, purchased from the artist [1], [2], [3], [4]
[1] The main source for this provenance was existing information in TMS (in Dallas Museum of Art Digital Collections Records Object Files). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The main source for this provenance is letter from Alejandro Obregón to Jerry Bywaters, Director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (dated December 29, 1959, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[3] The main source for this provenance is letter (inventory list) (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[4] The Dallas Art Association is the predecessor to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name was abandoned in 1970. Works from this collection were transferred to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
Apply to objects where number equals 1959.53
Category
rules_operator
AND
General Description
This painting is Alejandro Obregón’s seminal work reacting to the violent turmoil of the Colombian civil war. Beginning in 1948, political and social chaos plagued the population of Bogotá and beyond, leaving as many as 250,000 dead. This period of national calamity came to be known as La Violencia, and it inspired artists like Obregón to use their work as both a record and commemoration. Here a single slain victim receives mourners. Obregón uses abstraction to visually define the assemblage of objects at the memorial and animate the vigil.
Excerpt from
Erin Piñon, Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, Label text, 2017.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
Notes
Tower Gallery: Latin American Art, 2017.
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Alejandro Obregón: ULAN: 500020012
Cultures
Geography
Spain (nation): TGN: 1000095
Barcelona (Spain): TGN: 7007426
Colombia (nation): TGN: 1000050
Cartagena (inhabited place / Spain): TGN: 7007590
Bogotá (Colombia): TGN: 7005070
Process/materials
oil paint: AAT: 300015050
canvas: AAT: 300014078
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
painting (visual works): AAT: 300033618
dead (people): AAT: 300389809
bodies (human and animal components): AAT: 300404640
deaths: AAT: 300151836
mourning: AAT: 300238450
violence: AAT: 300192799
wars: AAT: 300055314
battles: AAT: 300185692
civil wars: AAT: 300055315
politics: AAT: 300055537
chaos (concepts): AAT: 300247349
population (demographics): AAT: 300055417
records (documents): AAT: 300026685
commemoratives (objects): AAT: 300235430
abstract: AAT: 300108127
abstraction: AAT: 300056508
assemblage (technique): AAT: 300138696
objects: AAT: 300312158
memorials (Structures): AAT: 300006956
memory: AAT: 300254803
paint (coating): AAT: 300015029
paint layers: AAT: 300178450
brush strokes: AAT: 300185434
figures (representations): AAT: 300189808
form (composition concepts): AAT: 300056272
geometric shape: AAT: 300263819
geometric motifs: AAT: 300009764
geometric abstraction: AAT: 300056509
curves (geometric figures): AAT: 300378887
curvilinear (shape): AAT: 300154222
lines (geometric concept): AAT: 300056279
circles (plane figures): AAT: 300055627
squares (geometric figures): AAT: 300055637
triangles (polygons): AAT: 300009806
apple (fruit/plants): AAT: 300266417
buds: AAT: 300375399
flower (motif): AAT: 300375563
plant-derived motifs: AAT: 300164599
animals (Animalia kingdom): AAT: 300249395
birds (animals): AAT: 300266506
birds (motifs): AAT: 300375751
wheels: AAT: 300024976
tables (support furniture): AAT: 300039548
easels (furniture): AAT: 300079638
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1959: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Dallas Art Association Purchase, purchased from the artist [1], [2], [3], [4]
[1] The main source for this provenance was existing information in TMS (in Dallas Museum of Art Digital Collections Records Object Files). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[2] The main source for this provenance is letter from Alejandro Obregón to Jerry Bywaters, Director of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts (dated December 29, 1959, copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[3] The main source for this provenance is letter (inventory list) (n.d., copy in Dallas Museum of Art Collections Records Object File, Confidential). Exceptions and other supporting documents are noted.
[4] The Dallas Art Association is the predecessor to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name was abandoned in 1970. Works from this collection were transferred to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. The name of the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, founded in 1933, changed to the Dallas Museum of Art in 1983.
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1959.53
source file
object_notes_3_c-0295.xml.nores