Guillermo Silva Santamaria

Guillermo Silva Santamaria (7 June 1921 – 29 June 2007) was a Colombian painter, printmaker and Surrealist. He was a recognized master of intaglio and exhibited his works on 4 continents during his lengthy career. He trained many students in his techniques during his teaching career in Mexico before moving to India and settling in Europe.

Biography Guillermo Silva Santamaria was born 7 June 1921 in Bogotá, Colombia. In 1937, he went to Paris and studied with the French master Pierre Daguet an impressionist style similar to Van Gogh. After 2 years, he returned to Colombia, but had no success with his art and took a job in a pharmaceutical company.

He continued to study art, and participated in art shows, holding his first solo exhibit in 1948. That same year, he travelled to the United States and France, returning to Bogotá in 1949 to establish the first stained glass workshop in Colombia with French artist Jean Crotti. Silva began teaching at the Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) in 1950 and again was studying in Europe in 1951. For a decade, he struggled with his art, but after a vacation to Machu Picchu in Peru, he began producing geometric abstractions. Praise from his contemporaries His technique was praised as "unique" achieving an apparent incision of inks by controlled viscosity. Though often depicting gruesome themes, the works were satirically presented social commentaries. He held his first European show Sweden in 1961 where he continued to paint and took up sculpting as well. From 1993 until his death, Silva spent his summers in Norway exhibiting his works. He died in his motor home near Roenland (a locality of Jevnaker, Norway) on 29 June 2007 and was buried in Jevnaker on 3 July 2007. His exhibit which was scheduled to open August 5 was to continue as planned.