Gonzalo Endara Crow

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Gonzalo Endara Crow (1936-1996, Bucay, Ecuador) was a master Latin American painter. From an early age he was very interested in art and as a young man he studied painting at the Central University in Quito. Endara Crow's work took on a distinct style early in his career that stayed with him throughout his life. Ecuadorian geography and the bright colors used by indigenous artisans in their work were two major influences that penetrated Endara Crow's work for his entire career. Gonzalo Endara Crow is considered one of the very important Ecuadorian painters of the second half of the 20th century.

Various art historians and critics have referred to his work as magical realism, a term oft used when speaking of twentieth century Latin American literature. Just as in magical realist texts, paintings by Endara Crow seek to expand the categories of what is real so as to encompass myth. Magic and other extraordinary phenomena in nature - all which are excluded by European culture - find their place in Endara Crow's painting.

Magical realism in painting can be distinguished by the way in which reality and fantasy are blended. Any distinction between the two is erased through the combination of fantasy elements and mythology with otherwise unrealistic fiction. As in the magical realist texts of Gabriel García Márquez, Gonzalo Endara Crow's paintings weave in fantastic elements with deadpan presentation.