The successive notes in the newspapers of this city and Buenos Aires did not fail to note each achievement of the painter and self-sacrificing worker. These days, an exhibition that brings together his work from different periods and a tribute to his granddaughter, the artist Jessica Villafañe, recalls his legacy in the art gallery of the Colegio de Escribanos (Obispo Trejo and 27 de Abril ).
Ramón villafañe was born in Córdoba on November 6, 1910. He was orphaned at a very young age and was raised by an aunt. His mother died as soon as he was born, later his father did. The biography included in the exhibition catalog states that "perhaps because of this, he soon got to know the street and would never leave it."
The Shoeshine Painter
On the street, Villafañe sold newspapers and lottery tickets. He was a changarín. One day he bought a box to shine shoes and thus he began in a trade, that of shoeshine, which would accompany him all his life. Stationed with his team at the door of the Japonés bar, in the heart of Córdoba, he met Francisco Vidal, Antonio Pedone and Roberto Viola, among others.
They discovered that, between client and client, Ramón attended to his other job. He palette in hand, he sketched or directly painted. It was them, renowned artists, who prompted him to enter the Provincial Academy of Fine Arts, where he attended two years, in 1943, as a listener in night courses.
In 1944, he exhibited a work of his own for the first time at the 11th Jockey Club Art Salon, an institution that granted him a monthly scholarship between 1947 and 1952 so that he could dedicate himself to painting. Over and over again, Ramón returned to his shoeshine box, to the street, his strongest connection with art. "The street is generous for the artist... I write down everything I see", he once said.
He confessed to a journalist from Mundo Uruguayo (February 7, 1952): "You don't know what it's like to bustle all day, from coffee to coffee, taking just enough time to eat and, sometimes, without rest, bear the weight of the lessons that in this case become a heavy responsibility, even though one likes them and needs them. For this reason, I had no choice but to leave..."
Villafañe's biography reports that his work gained space in salons. "The repercussions reached places never imagined by him," is stated in the catalog. He exhibited at the National Salon of Plastic Arts in Buenos Aires, a city in which he stood out. He also participated in salons in Córdoba, Rosario, Mar del Plata, San Juan, Mendoza and La Rioja. He won prizes and in 1961 received a distinction from the National Congress, "in recognition of the work of a self-taught artist who from the most humble job rose to the consideration of society never abandoning his convictions."
Died on August 16, 1969.
The landscape and its people
Villafañe painted the sandy ravines that still survive on the outskirts of Córdoba. The topographical and the social are two aspects of his painting, sums up Miriam Brussa, in charge of the gallery, and points out that for this reason his documentary work can be considered.
An example is La bajada de las reses, one of the paintings on display. The work (from the Museo Genaro Pérez collection) recalls the path to the old San Vicente slaughterhouse, around the 1930s and 1940s.
In another work, a self-portrait, what appears to be the landscape seen from a window is actually a painting posing behind the artist: once again the suburban ravine. And as in many of his works, these immense settings are inhabited by workers, figures represented on a much smaller scale, almost devoured by the environment.
Villafañe maintained: "True life is that of the spirit."
"Affective corner"
Retorno, the work of his granddaughter Jessica, is a version of one of his latest oil paintings (untitled), which is on display on an easel in the show (photo). "She didn't know her grandfather but she grew up seeing that work, which scared her as a girl, that's why she chose it for her tribute, and she used metal plates found on the street", says Miriam, and defines this sector of the sample as " an affectionate corner".
The exhibition is made up of works by the family, and various paintings on loan, some from the Museo Genaro Pérez collection and others from collectors.
Villafañe's landscapes are never totally urban or natural. The ravine is also the record of a social work scenario, on whose horizons the nascent industry emerges. And when he paints more central areas, he cannot help noticing the presence of trees (some very blue) that dominate the perspective.
The exhibition quickly reveals the paths his palette and his pictorial style were taking: around 1960 he changed his way of composing. A large flower prevails over tiny little men.
Miriam Brussa highlights "the rhythm of the brushstroke", as a stylistic richness that gives movement. And in "Obstinacy and the Miracle" Washington Rivière highlights the "expressive excess" of the artist, "passionate witness to the ravine", whose "original and accurate" vision transformed it into "the most vibrant plastic game". "Those masterfully current records, he finds at his fingertips in the breath of life that nestles in the ravine, in its hidden luminosity and in its sky...", where "he unravels its richness of greens, ochres, oranges, yellows ".
In the last two works in the show, everything suddenly changes: reddish characters with large hands and feet completely take over the surface of the canvas. The paintings reveal that towards the end of his life, Villafañe decided to put man in the foreground.
The tribute to Ramón Villafañe is part of the "Reminiscences" cycle. It was declared of cultural interest by the Córdoba Culture Agency and the Municipality of Córdoba. And you can visit it this month.
To see
"Villafañe & Villafañe". Enrique Mónaco Art Gallery of the College of Notaries (Obispo Trejo 104). Exhibition of works by Ramón Villafañe, from the family collection, Cordovan collectors and the Genaro Pérez Museum. Along with a tribute from his granddaughter, Jessica Villafañe. Until the end of the month, Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free admission.
