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Gustavo Montoya Art

Mexican, 1905-2003
Gustavo Montoya was born in Mexico City on July 9, 1905. At the age of 13 he studied painting at the Academia de San Carlos. Some of his teachers were: German Gedovius, Roberto Montenegro, Leandro Izaguirre, Francisco de la Torre, Mateo Herrera and Juan de Mata Pacheco, among others. He stated that the school had only taught him the technique of art, but not the spirit of it and therefore he considered himself a self-taught artist. He married his first wife, Luz Saavedra. In 1929 he traveled to Los Angeles, California, where he worked illustrating posters at the West Coast Theaters Co. The couple had a daughter, Rosa Elena Montoya Saavedra. The marriage did not last long, and Gustavo Montoya returned to Mexico in 1933. In 1936 he entered the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (National School of Visual Arts) as teacher of the color class. He married a second time to the painter Cordelia Urueta, with whom he moved to Paris in 1938 to study European avant-garde art. He visited museums, galleries, and painters' studios. He toured Switzerland, Italy and England. In 1939, due to the Second World War, Montoya and his wife were forced to leave for New York where they remained for several years. Exhibited at the Alma Reed Gallery. When they returned to Mexico in 1942, Gustavo Montoya joined the Mexican neo-realist school movement. In 1953 he entered again as a teacher at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. In 1965 Gustavo Montoya and Cordelia Urueta divorced after 26 years of marriage. He was lonely and did not engage in artistic circles. He was a founding member of the League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists along with Cordelia Urueta and others. Also, he was a founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. He spent most of his professional career depicting the streets of Mexico and its inhabitants. He painted still lifes, street scenes, churches, children, women, and markets in Mexico. Montoya preferred to paint the poor and working class, considering them the most authentic class in Mexico City. He liked to do his work in series around one main idea. Some of his series were: The streets of Mexico, Mexican still lifes, Mexican children, Dreams, Walls, Chess, Allegory of transformation, among others. Gustavo Montoya died on July 12, 2003 in Mexico City, at the age of 98 years.
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Artist: Gustavo Montoya
Chess Game (15/100)
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in San Francisco, CA
A Mahatma Gandhi-like person is seating over a chess game and the reflection is seen on the individual’s reading glasses. This color lithograph by Mexican artist Gustavo Montoya was ...
Category

1980s Contemporary Gustavo Montoya Art

Materials

Lithograph

Montoya Drawing Lady With Open Mouth Looking Front
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Renowned for his stunning ability to capture the essence of Mexican culture, Gustavo Montoya’s drawings offer a powerful narrative through minimalistic yet emotive lines. His works, ...
Category

20th Century Realist Gustavo Montoya Art

Materials

Carbon Pencil

Montoya Drawing Lady Looking Left Side
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Renowned for his stunning ability to capture the essence of Mexican culture, Gustavo Montoya’s drawings offer a powerful narrative through minimalistic yet emotive lines. His works, ...
Category

20th Century Realist Gustavo Montoya Art

Materials

Carbon Pencil

Montoya Drawing Lady With No Hair Face
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Renowned for his stunning ability to capture the essence of Mexican culture, Gustavo Montoya’s drawings offer a powerful narrative through minimalistic yet emotive lines. His works, ...
Category

20th Century Realist Gustavo Montoya Art

Materials

Carbon Pencil

Montoya Drawing Lady On Profile Lines On Hair
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Renowned for his stunning ability to capture the essence of Mexican culture, Gustavo Montoya’s drawings offer a powerful narrative through minimalistic yet emotive lines. His works, ...
Category

20th Century Realist Gustavo Montoya Art

Materials

Carbon Pencil

Montoya Drawing Baby Face
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Renowned for his stunning ability to capture the essence of Mexican culture, Gustavo Montoya’s drawings offer a powerful narrative through minimalistic yet emotive lines. His works, ...
Category

20th Century Realist Gustavo Montoya Art

Materials

Carbon Pencil

GIRL WITH WATERMELON
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Dallas, TX
. Watermelon, from the Collection of Mexican Children - (Sandias, de la Colección de Niños Mexicanos). Serie 2/9. CDMX, Mexico.
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Gustavo Montoya Art

Materials

Bronze

NINA DE ROSA
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Aventura, FL
Hand signed, dated and numbered by the artist. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of Authenticity included. All reasonable offers will be considered.
Category

1980s Contemporary Gustavo Montoya Art

Materials

Lithograph, Paper

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Abstract Cubist Charcoal Drawing of a Standing Woman
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Black and white portrait of a woman done in a style that combines abstraction and cubism, much like the work of Fernand Leger. Signed and dated in lower left corner. Artist Biography: Valery Kleverov was born in Engels, Russian Federation, Soviet Union June 28, 1939 the son of a fighter test pilot in the Soviet Air Force. He exhibited an independent, rebellious, and highly artistic temperament from a young age. Conscription into the Red Army at the standard age of (18) was first and last straw in the young artist’s battle with the State, he lasted only a few months before making an unauthorized parachute jump over a forest to go permanently AWOL. After 3 weeks hiding in the woods, he eventually made his way to Leningrad, dropped his first name and the “ov” from the end of his name and began his life as the underground artist known as “KLEVER”. He fell in with a close-knit group of young anti-authoritarian rebels who eventually became known to the world as the “Non-Conformists”, a small gang of free thinkers mainly from Leningrad and Moscow who rebelled against State control of artistic expression and of free thought. In the Soviet Union, not only religion was outlawed - art, literature, music and dance were all subject to heavy censorship and state oversight. Among paintings historical, religious, abstract, anti-Soviet and erotic subjects were all against the law. From 1966 to 1977 Klever made a reputation for himself as one of the non-conformists most overtly critical of the Soviet state. Many of his paintings from this period can be described as nothing less than heroic- they are truly remarkable visual essays on the evils of the national security/surveillance state, propaganda and manipulation of cultural symbols, suppression of artistic and religious freedom, revisionist history, and unfilled promises for the future. All of them were painted stored and exhibited not only at great risk to the artist and his associates, but also to anybody who sought to view them. In spite of the secrecy, the KGB discovered the existence of these pieces and began to follow Klever’s every move. There were surprise visits to his studio, harassment wherever he went, friends and family being questioned all a direct result of his determination to express himself artistically against Soviet control. From this time forward Klever had an exhibit which was open for viewing at all times inside the apartment of Bob Kashilohov as part of a network which paralleled the Samizdat network for sharing of forbidden literature. Klever was arrested for his participation in the most important non- conformist exhibitions which took place during his time there. These were the Bulldozer Exhibition in Moscow, 1974, (so named because the KGB bulldozed the exhibition and destroyed much of the work) and the Nevski Dom exhibition in Leningrad, 1975. These exhibitions represented some of the early cracks in the foundations of the Soviet state’s control over the population’s basic aspirations for economic, personal and creative freedom that ended with collapse in 1991. Repercussions of the Bulldozer exhibition were that some of the painters were arrested or even killed. Approximately 70 artists were arrested, including Klever. Media outcry in the west allowed most of the artists to be released within a week. Two weeks later another exhibition was allowed to proceed and became known as “Half Day of Freedom” in the Soviet Union. The Nevsky exhibition caused a huge sensation and was a watershed moment in the cultural history of the Soviet Union. People lined up for 30 blocks long over the course of the two week exhibition to see the forbidden works. Klever showed a large collection of explicit anti-Soviet paintings...
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"Red Medusa Mantle" (Ruffled Kimono) - Hand Augmented Collotype
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Previously Available Items
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Niño de Verde con Bastón de Dulce
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Niña de Naranja con Guitarra
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Signed lower right. Little Mexican girl in orange dress with braids, barefoot, sitting in an wooden chair holding a guitar.
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Niña de Azul
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Signed lower right. PROVENANCE: Galeria Central De Arte Moderno, Mexico; Private collection, California. Little Mexican girl in blue dress with braids, barefoot, sitting in an wooden blue chair.
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Niña de Amarillo con Mandolina
By Gustavo Montoya
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Signed lower right. PROVENANCE: Galeria Central De Arte Moderno, Mexico; Private collection, California. Little Mexican girl in yellow dress ...
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Niña de Amarillo con Alcancía
By Gustavo Montoya
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Músicos, de la serie Niños Mexicanos
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Cotorro, de la serie Niños Mexicanos
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Signed with pencil. Technique: Serigraph printing Stamp measurements: 60 x 45 cms Number of inks: from 30 to 35 Paper: Biblos Guarro Español 100% cotton Edition: 500 pieces (250 + 25...
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Sandía, de la serie Niños Mexicanos
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Signed with pencil. Technique: Serigraph printing Stamp measurements: 60 x 45 cms Number of inks: from 30 to 35 Paper: Biblos Guarro Español 100% cotton Edition: 500 pieces (250 + 25...
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Muñeca, de la serie Niños Mexicanos
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Signed with pencil. Technique: Serigraph printing Stamp measurements: 60 x 45 cms Number of inks: from 30 to 35 Paper: Biblos Guarro Español 100% cotton Edition: 500 pieces (250 + 25...
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"Niña con Paloma" Portrait of a Seated Girl in a Blue Dress Holding a Dove
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Houston, TX
Portrait of a young girl in a light blue dress accompanied by a small white dove in her lap. The little girl is barefoot and seated on a deep blue chair, a staple of his paintings, that is placed in the center of the composition. Gustavo Montoya created a number of unique portraits depicting young girls and boys (Niña's & Niño's) who he believed represented the beautiful children of Mexico. The oil painting is signed by the artist on the lower right corner and is great condition. The portrait is displayed in a beautiful gold frame and white matting that wonderfully accentuates the composition. A gallery stamp from the Galeria Teresa Haas SA (Mexico City, Mexico) is recognizable on the back of the frame. Dimensions Without Frame: H 24 in. x W 18 in. Artist Biography: Gustavo Montoya was born in Mexico City on July 9, 1905. At the age of 13 he studied painting at the Academia de San Carlos. Some of his teachers were: German Gedovius, Roberto Montenegro, Leandro Izaguirre, Francisco de la Torre, Mateo Herrera and Juan de Mata Pacheco, among others. He stated that the school had only taught him the technique of art, but not the spirit of it and therefore he considered himself a self-taught artist. He married his first wife, Luz Saavedra. In 1929 he traveled to Los Angeles, California, where he worked illustrating posters at the West Coast Theaters Co. The couple had a daughter, Rosa Elena Montoya Saavedra. The marriage did not last long, and Gustavo Montoya returned to Mexico in 1933. In 1936 he entered the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (National School of Visual Arts) as teacher of the color class. He married a second time to the painter Cordelia Urueta, with whom he moved to Paris in 1938 to study European avant-garde art. He visited museums, galleries, and painters' studios. He toured Switzerland, Italy and England. In 1939, due to the Second World War, Montoya and his wife were forced to leave for New York where they remained for several years. Exhibited at the Alma Reed Gallery. When they returned to Mexico in 1942, Gustavo Montoya joined the Mexican neo-realist school movement. In 1953 he entered again as a teacher at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. In 1965 Gustavo Montoya and Cordelia Urueta divorced after 26 years of marriage. He was lonely and did not engage in artistic circles. He was a founding member of the League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists along with Cordelia Urueta and others. Also, he was a founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. He spent most of his professional career depicting the streets of Mexico and its inhabitants. He painted still lifes, street scenes, churches, children, women, and markets in Mexico. Montoya preferred to paint the poor and working class, considering them the most authentic class in Mexico City. He liked to do his work in series around one main idea. Some of his series were: The streets of Mexico, Mexican still lifes...
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"Nino con Puerco" Lithograph by Gustavo Montoya
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Gustavo Montoya, Mexican (1905 - 2003) Title: Nino con Puerco Year: circa 1984 Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 250 Size: 30 in. x 21.5 in. (76.2 c...
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Gustavo Montoya art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Gustavo Montoya art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, blue, green and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Gustavo Montoya in screen print, lithograph, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Gustavo Montoya art, so small editions measuring 18 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Günther Kieser, Victor Delfin, and Igor Galanin. Gustavo Montoya art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $450 and tops out at $1,125, while the average work can sell for $450.

Artists Similar to Gustavo Montoya

Questions About Gustavo Montoya Art
  • 1stDibs ExpertSeptember 16, 2024
    How much a Montoya painting is worth depends on its size, history, condition and other factors. In 2007, Gustavo Montoya's Girl with Harp sold for $69,000 at auction. The Mexican artist spent most of his professional career depicting the streets of Mexico and its inhabitants. He painted still lifes, street scenes, churches, children, women and markets in Mexico. He preferred to paint the poor and working class, considering them the most authentic representation of Mexico City. If you own a painting by Montoya, a certified appraiser or knowledgeable art dealer can help you determine its worth. Shop a collection of Gustavo Montoya art on 1stDibs.
  • 1stDibs ExpertNovember 20, 2024
    Yes, Montoya is a real artist. In fact, there are two well-known artists by that name: Gustavo Montoya and Delilah Montoya. A Mexican artist, Gustavo spent most of his professional career depicting the streets of Mexico and their inhabitants. Montoya preferred to paint the poor and working class, considering them the most authentic representation of Mexico City. Delilah is a contemporary American artist who works in a variety of two-dimensional photographic and printing processes as well as larger installations. The artist describes her approach as postmodernist and explores issues of identity in the Chicano cultural context. Find a variety of Gustavo Montoya and Delilah Montoya art on 1stDibs.

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