Sergio De Castro
Buenos Aires, 1922 - Parigi, 2012
Sergio De Castro studies architecture and music. Critics have divided his painting career into four periods: the period of training in Paris, from 1950 to 1956; the second, called "classic" until 1966; the third period, from 1967 to 1971, called "Tunisian", due to the trip to Africa, and the last, called "baroque". The paintings depicting still lifes and landscapes are generally inspired by external reality; in them there is the influence of De Staël and especially the first Kandinsky.
Son of a diplomat, he lived in Switzerland (Lausanne and Geneva) until 1932. When he was about ten years old, he returned to South America where he was a student of the Jesuits of Montevideo. He studies architecture and, from 1939, also music. In 1940 he plays his musical pieces at the University of Montevideo and the music continues to represent his greatest interest, despite being very attracted by painting. In 1941 he is a pupil of Joaquim Torres-Garcia. In 1942 he leaves his family and goes to Buenos Aires. In 1944 he is still in Montevideo to make two large frescoes in the Martirené pavilion of the Saint-Bois Hospital. In 1947 he is appointed professor of Music History at the Conservatorio de La Plata. In 1949 he arrives in Paris to complete his musical studies, thanks to a scholarship from the French Government. In 1952 he organizes his first painting exhibition in Paris at the Galerie Jeanne Castel and begins his "egg" technique. Since 1953 he has abandoned musical composition.
Critics have divided his painting career into four periods: the period of training in Paris, from 1950 to 1956; the second, called "classic" until 1966; the third period, from 1967 to 1971, called "Tunisian", due to the trip to Africa, and the last, called "baroque".
In 1956 he begins the realization of the stained glass windows for the Benedictine church of Couvrechef in Caen (France) and exhibites at the Galerie Rive Gauche in Paris. In 1958 the Matthiesen Gallery in London dedicates him a solo exhibition and begins to participate in important group exhibitions, such as "Dokumenta" in Kassel (Germany), in 1959. In 1960 he receives the Hallmark Prize in New York and, in 1963, exhibites at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, on the occasion of the exhibition "Arte Argentina d'oggi".
From his third stay in Greece (1955-1959-1961) he reports a series of white landscapes inspired by the Cyclades, a theme that the artist resumed the following year for works characterized by a strong brightness.
The paintings depicting still lifes and landscapes are generally inspired by external reality; in them there is the influence of De Staël and especially the first Kandinsky.
In 1965 the first retrospective of his work is organized: 110 canvases, made from 1955 to 1965, at the Kunstverein in Hamburg (Germany) followed by another exhibition at the Museum of Art and History of Freiburg (Germany), in 1966.
Other important retrospectives followed in the following years: in 1975 at the Kunsthalle in Bremen in Germany, (works from 1956 to 1966) and at the Museum of Fine Arts in Caen; in 1987 at the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires (works from 1949 to 1974). In 1988 he participates with religious subjects (from 1948 to 1978) in the first festival of Contemporary Sacred Art in Bayeux (France).
Museums that preserve his works:
Bremen, Germany
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Caen, France
Columbus, OH, Usa
Holstebro, Denmark
Luxembourg
Paris (Mus. Nat. d'Art Moderne)
Valenciennes, France
Vienna, Austria
Works in public spaces:
Stained glass window "The Creation of the World", Church of the Benedictine Monastery of Caen
Stained glass windows of the Collegiate Church of Our Lady of the Assumption of Freiburg
Mural for the Central Library of Pret l'Yonne, Auxerre, France)
Mural for ATOCHEM in Paris, La Défence
Bibliography:
R. Nacenta, La Scuola di Parigi, Novara, Istituto Geografico de Agostini, 1960; L. Harambourg, L'Ecole de Paris, 1945-1965, Neuchâtel, Ides & Calendes, 1993; D. Sutton, Sergio de Castro, Paris, Le Musèe de poche, 1964; Castro, (Milan, Lorenzelli Gallery, October 1963) Milano, Grafic Olimpia, 1963
© Sergio De Castro, by SIAE 2024
Critics have divided his painting career into four periods: the period of training in Paris, from 1950 to 1956; the second, called "classic" until 1966; the third period, from 1967 to 1971, called "Tunisian", due to the trip to Africa, and the last, called "baroque".
In 1956 he begins the realization of the stained glass windows for the Benedictine church of Couvrechef in Caen (France) and exhibites at the Galerie Rive Gauche in Paris. In 1958 the Matthiesen Gallery in London dedicates him a solo exhibition and begins to participate in important group exhibitions, such as "Dokumenta" in Kassel (Germany), in 1959. In 1960 he receives the Hallmark Prize in New York and, in 1963, exhibites at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, on the occasion of the exhibition "Arte Argentina d'oggi".
From his third stay in Greece (1955-1959-1961) he reports a series of white landscapes inspired by the Cyclades, a theme that the artist resumed the following year for works characterized by a strong brightness.
The paintings depicting still lifes and landscapes are generally inspired by external reality; in them there is the influence of De Staël and especially the first Kandinsky.
In 1965 the first retrospective of his work is organized: 110 canvases, made from 1955 to 1965, at the Kunstverein in Hamburg (Germany) followed by another exhibition at the Museum of Art and History of Freiburg (Germany), in 1966.
Other important retrospectives followed in the following years: in 1975 at the Kunsthalle in Bremen in Germany, (works from 1956 to 1966) and at the Museum of Fine Arts in Caen; in 1987 at the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires (works from 1949 to 1974). In 1988 he participates with religious subjects (from 1948 to 1978) in the first festival of Contemporary Sacred Art in Bayeux (France).
Museums that preserve his works:
Bremen, Germany
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Caen, France
Columbus, OH, Usa
Holstebro, Denmark
Luxembourg
Paris (Mus. Nat. d'Art Moderne)
Valenciennes, France
Vienna, Austria
Works in public spaces:
Stained glass window "The Creation of the World", Church of the Benedictine Monastery of Caen
Stained glass windows of the Collegiate Church of Our Lady of the Assumption of Freiburg
Mural for the Central Library of Pret l'Yonne, Auxerre, France)
Mural for ATOCHEM in Paris, La Défence
Bibliography:
R. Nacenta, La Scuola di Parigi, Novara, Istituto Geografico de Agostini, 1960; L. Harambourg, L'Ecole de Paris, 1945-1965, Neuchâtel, Ides & Calendes, 1993; D. Sutton, Sergio de Castro, Paris, Le Musèe de poche, 1964; Castro, (Milan, Lorenzelli Gallery, October 1963) Milano, Grafic Olimpia, 1963
© Sergio De Castro, by SIAE 2024
