Armando Reverón: Works for Sale, Upcoming Auctions & Past Results

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Armando Reverón

Venezuelan  •  1889-1954

Biography

Armando Reverón was born into a wealthy Venezuelan family where he found an early interest in art, studying in Caracas and Spain under Ignacio Zuloaga. Upon his return to Venezuela he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, causing him to retreat to the coastal village of Macuto with his lifelong partner, Juanita.

Often depicting landscapes and nudes, Reverón developed a singular painting technique utilizing a highly textured monochromatic white palette. Many of his works also feature touches of blue, gray, aquamarine and occasional areas of bare canvas. This color scheme emulates the blinding luminosity of light one would experience on the beaches of Venezuela. Reverón worked in isolation and made most of his painting supplies himself, including brushes, canvases and coconut tree frames.

Insights

  • When Reverón realized his portraits, he performed a bizarre ritual where he cinched his waist to divide his body into two. This was a form of emasculation, according to Alfredo Boulton.

  • There are fewer than twelve Reverón paintings left with their original coconut wood frames. Because the frames were not considered sophisticated, many collectors had discarded them.

  • Reverón's home and studio, which he named El Castillete (Little Castle), became a tourist attraction where one could visit the artist at work and then purchase a souvenir.

Past Lots

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