Interpreting the Artist Through Light

Résumé

Exploring the vast pictorial work of Monsignor Juan Larrea Holguin is challenging for anyone who tries to achieve a good and organized study. The first cause is clear: he used to paint all the time and he did it on any material available; he also used to generously donate his works, so it's very difficult to track them all; the second reason has to do with his paintings being an alternate activity to his priestly work and extensive legal production. It seems that he saw every painting with the half-closed and analytical eyes that are characteristic of a lawyer but, at the same time, with the love professed by the humanist for the Ecuadorian landscapes. This paper shows a facet of this multifaceted man who marks a milestone in the history of the great characters of Ecuador, but at the same time shows an artistic work that deserves to be highlighted in the art field due to its loyalty towards the homeland, its unmistakable style and color management. There is also a curious similarity with the avant-garde trend that marked Juan Larrea's style, creating a rift between the objectivity of the lawyer and the subjectivity of the artist.