Juan Cárdenas Arroyo

Juan Cárdenas Arroyo (12 August 1939 – 15 December 2024) was a Colombian figurative painter.

Life and career

Cárdenas was born in Popayán, Cauca, on 12 August 1939.[1] He graduated from Columbia University in New York City, and in 1962 he studied painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, in the United States.[2]

His career began as a cartoonist in El Tiempo, La República, El Espacio, and in the magazine Flash. He was jailed for a cartoon. From 1969 to 1972 he was professor of Painting, Drawing, and Anatomy, University of the Andes, Colombia.[2] He participated in and won first prize in the 25th National Salon of Colombian Artists in 1974 for his self-portrait ("Autorretrato Dibujo").

Cárdenas was also involved with the 1994 re-design of the Colombian peso: he designed the $5,000 and $20,000 banknotes. In 2022 he was awarded the Order of Boyacá, his country's highest peacetime decoration.[3]

Cárdenas died on 15 December 2024, at the age of 85.[4]

Notes

1. Juan Cárdenas Cronología (in Spanish)
2. Theran, Susan (1999). Leonard's Price Index of Latin American Art at Auction. Springer. p. 44. ISBN 1349150843.
3. Bernal, Jhon (15 December 2024). "Murió Juan Cárdenas, pintor y caricaturista colombiano: fue el diseñador del billete de 5.000 y 20.000 pesos" (in Spanish). Infobae. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
4. El arte está de luto: Murió el pintor y caricaturista Juan Cárdenas (in Spanish)

References

• Great Encyclopedia of Colombia, Circulo de Lectores, Bogotá
• Art of Colombia, Salvat, Bogotá