Waldo Aguiar

WALDO AGUIAR Y CARMONA (Madrid, 1930–2000).
“Virgin,” 1975.
Oil on Tablex.
Signed in the lower right corner. Signed, dated, and titled on the reverse.
Measurements: 46 x 38 cm; 57 x 49 cm (with frame).

Here, Aguiar approaches religious iconography from an expressionist sensibility, moving away from conventional devotional representation. The Madrid-based artist transforms the Marian theme into an image of great inner intensity, in which the restraint of the gesture coexists with the chromatic and tactile energy of the execution.

The Virgin, depicted with her head bowed and her gaze lowered, adopts an attitude of serene contemplation. Her face, rendered with short, impasto brushstrokes, has hallmarks of incandescent oranges and reds, arranged like a luminous halo. The whites, grays, and earth tones of the mantle create a vibrant surface, fragmented by the energetic movement of the paint.

Waldo Aguiar trained at the San Fernando School of Fine Arts and served as a professor of drawing. A painter, sculptor, and printmaker, he developed an expressionist style of figurative art, with a special focus on the human figure and, in particular, the female form. He was a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and exhibited, among other venues, at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid. His work is included in major museums and collections such as the Reina Sofía Museum and the Museo de África.