Ana Mercedes Hoyos: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Ana Mercedes Hoyos was a “pioneer in modern art” whose paintings and sculptures honored the Colombian culture.

She was celebrated with a Google Doodle on December 17, 2022. “Today’s Doodle celebrates Ana Mercedes Hoyos, a distinguished Colombian artist. She was an award-winning painter and sculptor who won over seventeen national and international awards,” Google wrote.

“Hoyos was a pioneer in modern art who focused on the complexities of Colombian culture. On this day in 1968, Hoyos was awarded first place in the Bogotá Museum of Modern Arts’ ‘Environmental Spaces’ exhibition.”

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Hoyos was known for her “vivid play of colors” in “abstract works of art” as well as “the figurative paintings of still lifes, macaws and fruit vendors on the beaches of Colombia’s Atlantic coast.”

“All you have when you decide to be an artist is a responsibility to yourself and a commitment to society,” she once said, according to The Union-Tribune.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Hoyos Was Born Into a Family of Architects in Bogota

According to Google, Hoyos was “born to a family of architects in Bogotá, Colombia on September 29, 1942.”

Her family encouraged her to “study art history from an early age,” Google wrote.

“She attended Colegia Marymount before studying visual arts at the University of Andes. She first explored more minimalistic and abstract styles, which led to her first series Ventanas (Windows). Many consider this collection the turning point of her career, as it won the Colombian National Salon of Artists’ Caracas Prize.”

According to Art Collection, Hoyos was the “daughter of the engineer, dedicated to architecture, Manuel José Hoyos, and Esther Mejí.”

She later studied under professors “the Spanish painter Juan Antonio Roda and Argentine art critic Marta Traba,” the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

2. Today, Hoyos Is Considered ‘One of the Most Significant’ Colombian Artists

RoGallery called Ana Mercedes Hoyos “one of the most significant and distinguished figures in Colombian art today.”

Hoyos’s art work has been seen in countries around the globe.

Her work “has been seen internationally since1 968 with solo exhibitions in Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Spain and the United States,” the site says.

3. Hoyos’s Paintings Have Been Auctioned for Almost a Quarter of a Million Dollars

According to Mutual Art.com, some of Hoyos’s paintings have fetched up to a quarter of a million dollars in auction houses.

“Numerous key galleries and museums such as Nueveochenta Gallery have featured Ana Mercedes Hoyos’s work in the past,” the site reported.

“Ana Mercedes Hoyos’s work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from 175 USD to 245,000 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork.”

The high end price went to her work “Mural in Three Parts,” which Sotheby’s New York sold in 2014, according to Mutual Art.

4. Hoyos, Who Was Married to an Architect, Died in 2014

Hoyos died in 2014 at the age of 72. Her obituary in The New York Times says she was a “long time resident of New York City,” but died in Bogota, Colombia.

The newspaper obituary described Hoyos as “one of the most important exponents of the art of Colombia for the last five decades.”

The article says she was “survived by her husband architect Jacques Mosseri, her daughter artist Ana Mosseri and two grandchildren.”

5. Hoyos’s Artwork Used a ‘Pop Aesthetic’

According to Ask Art.com, Hoyos’s artwork “adopted a Pop aesthetic, which incorporated scenes of the Andean landscape of her native Colombia.”

The site explains that her work “revealed a reflective attitude towards the importance of the African heritage in Colombia and Latin America.”

According to Ask Art: “In many of her works the artist created atmospheres that allow us to perceive the clear musical rhythm of African roots that flood the spaces. Gigantic white bows, white or multicolored dresses, make us feel part of the party participating in the parade.”

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