BIOGRAPHY

Painter and scenographer José ECHAVE was born in Salto, a province in the north of Uruguay, on 27 November 1921 to a Basque immigrant father (Joaquin ECHAVE) and an Italian immigrant mother (Léonor MAZZUCCHELLI).

In 1938, he began studying Medicine and Architecture, which he soon abandoned in order to devote himself exclusively to painting. At the end of 1939, he left for Argentina to study painting with Juan Carlos CASTAGNINO, Antonio BERNI and Lino SPILIMBERGO.

In 1945-1946, during one of his many trips back and forth between Argentina and his native Uruguay, he met the painter José CUNEO in Salto, with whom he became friends. It was at this time that he organised his first exhibition in Salto; the paintings presented highlighted the town, its streets, the river, its coastline and the sunsets. At the same time, in Salto, he met his friend and great poet Victor LIMA, who dedicated a poem to him. With him and other artists and intellectuals, he became involved in the creation of a cultural movement that gave birth to the Asociacion Horacio Quiroga in January 1946.

As part of this movement, he began working with the Hungarian painter José CZIFFERY in the “Pedro Figari” studio belonging to the association, where he exhibited his work. In 1947, they painted a mural together in the garage of “El Palacio” in Salto.

During the stay of the Brazilian master Cándido PORTINARI at his Fortune residence in Montevideo, José ECHAVE accompanied him in the creation of the work “La Primera Misa en Brasil” (The First Mass in Brazil).

In 1949, after constantly moving back and forth between Argentina and Uruguay, he decided to settle permanently in Montevideo (Uruguay). Alongside his career as a painter, he began working as a set designer for the Comedia Nacional and independent theatres. Thanks to his growing reputation and his extensive knowledge of the arts, he was appointed Professor of Fine Arts at the San Francisco de Asis Institute.

In 1950, José ECHAVE married Martha CASTELLANOS, an independent actress who had been a member of the first Comedia Nacional troupe in 1947. Together they had two children: Carlos-Eduardo (born 1952) and Martha (born 1957).

In 1951, in addition to numerous solo and group exhibitions and painting prizes such as the Grand Prix at the Mexico Biennial, he became Director of Scenography at the Teatro Nacional Solis and a member of UNESCO’s Plastic Arts Committee.

During this period, he worked on a number of plays by authors as varied as Anouilh, Shakespeare, Becket, Ibsen, Silva Valdés, Sanchez, Odet, Pirandello, Coward, Tirso de Molina, Menotti, Goldoni, Bhermann, Husson, O’Casey, Goodrich and Hacket, Rattingan, O’Neill, Pagnol, Crooelynck, Odets, Tenesse, Molière and Feydeau, among others.

Despite working extensively as a set designer, he continued his work as a painter, exploring a new, more symbolic dimension in his work, marking a break with his early days, when he painted landscapes inspired by local fables and legends.

In 1963, he was appointed Ambassador by the Uruguayan government to lead a mission to study the arts in Europe (Madrid, Rome, London, etc.), accompanying several Uruguayan artists who had been awarded study grants.

In 1964, at the end of his mission, and in view of the links forged with galleries during his travels, he moved with his family to Rome. This stay lasted two years, during which he frequented the world of art and cinema. In 1965, the actress Monica VITTI, who loved his paintings, asked him to paint her portrait. This mixed media work measures 130 x 97 cm.

During his stay in Italy, he took part in more than 15 group and solo exhibitions. He was awarded several prizes, including the Prix de Gubbio (1964), the Silver Cup of the Municipality of Rome, and many others.

In 1966, he moved to Madrid with his family. He took part in more than 15 group and solo exhibitions, and travelled back and forth between Madrid and Paris several times.

In the catalogue for the 1969 exhibition at the Eurocasa Art Gallery in Madrid, where he had been one of the exclusive painters since 1967, he published a text presenting a new reflection on painting: “The Law of Silence“. The layout of this text follows the same rules of pictorial and geometric composition that we find in his works from that date onwards. He applied this principle of “pictorial construction” for the rest of his life.

In 1974, he finally settled in Paris. During his 11-year stay in the city, he took part in over 30 group and solo exhibitions. In 1976 he became one of the exclusive painters of the Galerie Lacloche. In 1974 and 1975, he exhibited at the FIAC (Foire International d’Art Contemporain) in Paris.

In 1984, he took part in the exhibition at the 2nd Foire Internationale d’Art Plastique et du Livre d’Art. He was then spotted by Gallimard, who commissioned him to illustrate a special edition of “Les chants de Maldoror” by Isidore Ducasse, better known as the “Comte de Lautréamont”.

Unfortunately, despite an enormous body of work comprising over 100 drawings, studies, paintings and canvases, some of which measure 195 x 130 cm and include figures, animals, landscapes, legends, etc., illness took his life, preventing him from finishing the work.

During his career of more than 40 years as a painter, and until his death on 22 February 1985 in Paris at the age of 63, he took part in nearly 115 group exhibitions and 30 solo exhibitions, produced nearly 30 stage designs and won nearly 20 painting prizes, not forgetting his work as a book illustrator, magazines and newspapers, his work as a member of the Plastic Arts Committee at UNESCO, as a juror in competitions organised by the Municipal Theatre Commission and the National School of Fine Arts, and as a Professor of Fine Arts at the San Francisco de Asis Institute of Fine Arts.

His work can be found in private collections in Uruguay, Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, etc, and in museums throughout the world, including the Museo Municipal de San José (Uruguay), the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Uruguay), the Museo Municipal de Salto (Uruguay), the Museo Nacional Jan Manuel Blanes (Uruguay), the Museum of Fine Arts (Dallas-U. S.A.), the Museo Municipal de Colonia (Uruguay), the Chamber of Deputies (Uruguay), the Museo de Porto Alegre (Brazil), the European Community Collection in Rome (Italy), the Cartagena Museum of Modern Art (Colombia), etc.