Workbench

Offset print, 20th Century.
Image: 17 1/2 x 25
Paper: 17 1/2 x 25
Excellent condition.

Inventory Number: JM1005
Pencil signed by artist and signature in plate.
Tools on workbench with jug and door.
Call for price: 201-871-3577

Julio Montesinos first learned painting with his father, Julio Montesinos Malo, who was a well-known artist from Cuena, Ecuador. It was from the elder Montesinos that Julio acquired the knowledge of techniques and the secrets of pictorial art. Yet, there was never any form of direct, formal teaching-just silent observation and careful monitoring.

Montesinos is able to capture Reality in its most hidden and unsuspected magic. He is an artist who enjoys doing everything by his own hand, from the preparation of the surface on which he will paint, to choosing the frame for his finished work. Furthermore, Montesinos is a poetic realist; he does not exacerbate detail like the hyper-realists, but lyrically selects them. His meticulousness, perfectionism and precision transform each of his pieces into an exhausting deployment of technical virtuosity. Even though small surfaces require quite a long time of labor, Montesinos occasionally undertakes large compositions. He treats them just the same: centimeter by centimeter, minimal stroke by minimal stroke, building a world of light and incredible details.

The secret of his subtle art is the poetic recovery of the simple, which in each of us rebuilds a world buried in memory and perpetuates an apparently banal reality. This is why the work of Julio Montesinos cannot be absent from any gallery that is representatives of Ecuadorian plastic arts.