Luis Caballero

Unititled male nude, 1970-1990

Lithography on paper

 

DIMENSIONS: 

Image size: 15 in H x 10.7 in W

Edition 8/75

Unframed

Luis Caballero’s passionate, erotic paintings of nude figures rendered in deep red, black, and neutral tones combine themes of sensuality, cruelty, and violence. Born in Colombia to a conservative Catholic family, Caballero found inspiration in the restrained works of Juan Antonio Roda, whom he studied under at the Universidad de los Andes, and later in the sexually liberated streets of Paris, where he moved in 1969 and lived until his death in 1995. Caballero considered his homosexuality central to his artistic practice and painted many large, tumultuous scenes of torsos and appendages in motion. His work was shown in the 1969 Biennale de Paris and the 1984 Venice Biennale. Since 1996, the city of Bogotá has awarded the annual Luis Caballero Prize to a mid-career Colombian artist in honor of his artistic legacy.