José Gamarra is one of the most important artists of Uruguayan origin. Born in 1934 in Tacuarembó (Uruguay), he lives and workes since 1963 in Arcueil, France, and has acquired an international reputation.

At the age of 16, he participated in the National Salons, then entered the Fine Arts School of Montevideo where he studied painting and engraving. In 1959, he obtained a scholarship from Itamarati, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, to study engraving at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro with Johnny Friedlaender, and painting at the Institute of Fine Arts in Praia Vermelha with Iberé Camargo.

After a year in Rio, he was appointed professor of painting and fresco at the Alvares Penteado Foundation in Sao Paulo. The four years he lived in Brazil (1959-1963) were fundamental in his artistic consolidation. In 1962, he participated in the III Biennial of Young Painters of Montevideo and the III Biennial of Young Painters of Paris, where he won the painting prize and a scholarship from the French government.

His curiosity and the need to see original works led him to Europe. The European experience would be fundamental from the moment he arrived in France in 1963. The artists in Uruguay were influenced by the Torres García school, a very rigid school with a dark palette. “In Europe, I saw the explosion of colors,” says Gamarra.

In Paris, he found another creative dynamic, his view of the American continent changed, he observed and penetrated Latin American nature. The painter evokes various eras, events, characters and objects: conquerors of the discovery of America, indigenous people, the armed conflicts of the 70s with helicopters, planes and tanks.

The deep green of the landscapes, the precision of the details, the incognito characters in defensive, attacking or anguished positions, surrounded by animals and objects, create drama and lyricism. The exuberant vegetation is a kind of novel where the magical jungle landscapes describe an entire aesthetic and social universe. Social commitment and concern for the preservation of nature have long been central themes of his intense artistic activity. José Gamarra has always believed that it was possible to live in harmony with nature, the ecological message is an integral part of his work.

José Gamarra’s work is part of prestigious public and private collections, such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, USA; Rockefeller Foundation, New York, USA; Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris, France; National Library of Paris, France; National Fund of Contemporary Art (CNAP) Paris La Défense, France; Museum of Contemporary Art of Val-de-Marne (MAC/VAL), Vitry, France; Rothschild Bank Collection Zurich, Switzerland; Museo de Arte Moderno Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museu de Arte Moderna Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, among many others.