Luchita Hurtado in 2017 in front of a Self-Portrait painted 1950s
Luchita Hurtado (1920-2020) was a Venezuelan-born artist whose drawings, paintings, photographs, jewellery and clothing designs were inspired by her fascination of the natural world and figures.
Untitled, by Luchita Hurtado 1950s
After moving to the United States in 1928, she studied fine art and began exploring the world around her with indigenous patterns, modernism, surrealist and abstract styles.
Untitled, by Luchita Hurtado 1969
Hurtado’s work experimented with abstraction in the 1940s and 50s, whilst her later works that focused on the human body.
Untitled, by Luchita Hurtado 1971
Among her most well-known works is the ‘I Am’ series of the 1960s: self-portraits that Hurtado painted by looking down at her own body.
Untitled, by Luchita Hurtado 1954
Later works show her environmental concerns; recurring motifs include humans merging with trees and texts including ‘Water Air Earth’ and ‘We Are Just a Species’.
Untitled, by Luchita Hurtado 2018
Hurtado’s work was relatively unknown until 2015, when a studio director cataloguing her husband’s art estate came across her paintings. Her second ever solo exhibition, “Luchita Hurtado: Selected Works, 1942–1952”, ran from November 12, 2016 – January 7, 2017 in Park View, New York. The Serpentine Gallery in London held an exhibition of her work in 2019.
Luchita Hurtado passed away in August 2020 at the age of 99.
Luchita Hurtado pictured in front of her work in 2017
