Amanecer desde punta Brisas 1944

Armando Reveron made this evocative oil painting of a sunrise from Brisas Point in Venezuela, sometime in the first half of the 20th century. Reveron spent much of his life in isolation on the coast, away from the art institutions of Caracas and further afield. And here he gives us a scene of almost complete abstraction, a world reduced to light and atmosphere. But the painting is not just a rendering of a subjective impression. It’s also a product of the place where Reveron chose to live. The intense sunlight of the Venezuelan coast bleached the colors from his palette and led him to develop a unique style of painting that was both modern and deeply rooted in the local environment. When we consider Reveron’s work, we need to consider the artist’s relationship to his chosen landscape, as well as to the artistic establishment of his time. Research into Venezuelan history and culture will tell us more.