We regret that, in 2023, we failed to share news of a major retrospective of Dominican artist Iván Tovar, considered a great master of surrealism “who created a singular oeuvre” in the Dominican Republic and France through the 20th century. Born on April 12, 1942, in San Francisco de Macoris, he died on March 28, 2020, in Santo Domingo.
Tovar received public and commercial recognition fairly recently. He was awarded the National Prize for Visual Arts in the Dominican Republic, in 2018, and a retrospective of his work was featured at the David Bardía art gallery in Madrid, Spain in 2019. However, it was not until 2023 that he was celebrated with the first retrospective of his work in his own country. The exhibition “Tovar Retrospective,” which brought together a selection of 200 pieces created between 1958 and 2020, was held at the Museum of Modern Art (MAM) in Santo Domingo (from April 19 to June 29, 2023). To honor his life and work, we share here (with minor editing) an obituary essay from the Iván Tovar Foundation [Fundación Iván Tovar].
Artists, and especially one as prolific as the painter and poet Iván Tovar, when [leaving] this earthly plane, leave fragments of their soul in their works that make them immortal. It is with great sadness that the national and international artistic community [says goodbye to] one of its most outstanding sons, one who, through his work, managed to reach the most important auction houses and exhibition halls in the world. Born in 1942, in San Francisco de Macorís, he was trained at the National School of Fine Arts in Santo Domingo. He arrived in Paris in 1963, the city [where] he lived for about 20 years. There, he discovered that he was a surrealist, not because he pursued that current, but because this was the one that suited the way he saw the world. Critic and poet José Pierre was one of the first to recognize surreal signs in Tovar’s work, while also perceiving the originality of his language. José Pierre said, on his canvases, he condensed a multitude of [times] in a second.
Spanish art journalist Pilar Corredoira describes that [he slowly began adding] colors [. . .] to his work. “In the beginning, his work was developed around the existence of two colors: black and white, jealously guarded by the powerful lines of the drawing. Slowly, the artist includes other shades: grays, blues, reds, greens, ocher, yellows and purples stand out in that light-generating black cosmos; the characters that inhabit it have their own role, well differentiated and of exquisite technical neatness, they seem to be born out of chaos; even so, Tovar’s painting is, in short, intuitive and emotional; a silent order reigns in it,” she [explained].
[He is] considered the most internationally renowned Dominican painter, not only for his [extended] stay in Paris, but also for his daring surrealist theme, which made him [an exponent] of renewed techniques.
In October 2018, he was selected [as the winner of] the 2018 National Visual Arts Award. On that occasion, [the Ministry highlighted] the great international influence of his works, which are found in important museums, cultural institutions, and private collections in the Dominican Republic, Europe, Asia, the United States, and Latin America.
Dominican College of Plastic Artists
Visual artist Miguel Gómez, president of the Dominican College of Plastic Artists [Colegio Dominicano de Artes Plásticos (CODPA)], expressed sadness that the union and the country lost a great exponent of Dominican plastic arts. “Iván Tovar is a figure whose work transcended; a highly prestigious surrealist, whose work achieved [significant] impact not only in the country but abroad; an architect of lights [. . .] his performance as a visual artist was extraordinary. I think it was a fatal blow,” commented Miguel Gómez.
When analyzing the work of Iván Tovar, he recalled that he was one of the most internationally sought-after artists. His career in Europe has been highly appreciated. “He was among the ten highest quality Surrealists, and he became the first Dominican [Surrealist] to achieve that transcendence.”
What would be one of the last major exhibitions in honor of the artist was held in 2019. With the sponsorship of Banco de Reservas, 15 works [were gathered at] the exhibition “The Surreal Universe of Iván Tovar” at the David Bardía art gallery in Madrid.
The exhibition was described by its curators as an opportunity for “each observer to experience unique and different sensations. Tovar’s creative power establishes a bond, a bond that captures the perception of those who stop for a while before each work.” [. . .]
See the complete, original essay at https://www.ivantovar.org/
Also see https://cultura.gob.do/index.php/noticias/item/2310-inauguran-exposicion-tovar-retrospectivo-en-el-museo-de-arte-moderno and https://www.ossayecasadearte.com/post/tovar-retrospectivo-museo-de-arte-moderno-mam
For a review by José Rafael Sosa, in Spanish, see https://proceso.com.do/2022/03/09/legado-de-ivan-tovar-como-pintor-debe-ser-valorado-por-juventud-de-hoy/
[Image above: “La menace/La amenaza” (1974). Accessed via https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/impressionist-modern-art-day-sale-online/ivan-tovar-la-menace.]
We regret that, in 2023, we failed to share news of a major retrospective of Dominican artist Iván Tovar, considered a great master of surrealism “who created a singular oeuvre” in the Dominican Republic and France through the 20th century. Born on April 12, 1942, in San Francisco de Macoris, he died on March 28,
