"NOBLE"

Master Of Chiaroscuro

Statement    Critics    Curriculum    Paintings    Sculptures

CRITICS

Francisco GIL TOVAR (Art Historian & Critic)

Blessed by daydreams, Noble reinvents things of nature and places them in mysterious environments; because of this, at first glance he seems to align himself with surrealism through the strange burden that many of his paintings have; but there is nothing of imaginings nor psychic automatism in his work: it is a patient and detailed labor more similar to the work of the dark Baroque that, little by little, through a layered process, proceeds from the background to the surface, from the twilight to the light, constructing those flowers, those brilliantly rare birds and those objects of pure truthfulness that appear to lie. From the deep darkness surge these creations, presenting vivid colors, stating their net volume, their rich vestments, and that surprising touch that constitutes the style of this self taught artist.

 

 

Gabriel GARCIA MARQUEZ (Nobel Prize Winner for Literature)

There is in the painting of Miguel de la Espriella, “NOBLE”, an explosion of light that comes from a background of shadows, the glare of the universe in the middle of a vegetable serfdom populated by birds and dragonflies. What makes an impact are his chiaroscuros with that essential validity that has always been present in Rembrandt. But in the concrete case of Noble it is not about imitation, but continuity, of a process that is forever in renewal and because of that, lasts. It is the survival of art and its real mode of expression while at the same time understanding it.

 

Rafael ESCALONA MARTINEZ (International Songwriter)

Since a child I have been a fan of painting and as such I have read and know the biographies of the greatest painters of all times, of all nations, amongst whom are figures whom I have admired much during my whole life: Leonardo, Miguel Angel my namesake Rafael, and amongst another fifty artists of all epochs whom I have admired a great deal is Goya for his transparent way of working shadows. In this case I refer to Miguel de la Espriella, "NOBLE", the only painter in the country who cultivates chiaroscuro and who has established a school unique and equal to that of Obregón. Obregón, with his condors that fly from the Colombian Andes to all the skies of the world with his mythological figures, and Miguel de la Espriella, “NOBLE”, with his amazonic birds, his biblical jars, Macedonian, his butterflies and tropical fruits that determine a unique and personal style equal to Goya, though of course from different schools. You must look at his work, you must look hard, and tell me if you share my opinion.

 

Ramiro DE LA ESPRIELLA (Journalist)

We are now faced with a case of esthetical maturity. An artist who in reaching self-fulfillment leaves his mark on his canvases, clearly identifiable, and in his sculptures, his new form of expression. What counts here, above all, is the conscience of the artist as a transmutation of the powerful almighty. Faced with the disperse values of the creation, his work, the conviction that only his interior force could come to idealize the creation converting the materials in a great beauty in the works of Miguel de la Espriella, “NOBLE”, without repetition, if not that all that is his own has its own seal, identifiable, that is to say is inspired in a known personal dignity and renowned.

 

 

Antonio MARTI (International Artist)

The retina captures in the work of Miguel de la Espriella “NOBLE”, a kind of chromatic fire full of elegance making one perceive the effect of velvet. In his painting one senses a discipline and dedication. One notes the advance, with firm steps, in his diverse epochs. His colors are intense and the capacity of “NOBLE” to play strong contrasts, is always audaciously brave.

 

Miguel ALVAREZ DE LOS RIOS (Writer)

Painting gratifying and lovely is that of “NOBLE”, whose mystery is founded in its own simplicity and in the repetition of the same elements; principally the birds (the orioles) and the flowers, that the artist reinvents, feather by feather, flower by flower, just in the way that was done by Rousseau. But in the case of Noble, the charm is enhanced, by his compositional scheme, in perfect balance; the volumes that beat under the weight of the light; the mixture of the colors in emphatic mattés and the perception of space through the chiaroscuro.

 

Gonzalo VILLEGAS JARAMILLO (Poet)

To be present at the miracle of artistic creation is to feel oneself invited to a ritual of unpredictable magic. From the hands of the artist fly, as if we were dealing with a conjurer, forms that remind us of the most beautiful expressions of nature, however, those that the painter reveals on canvas belong to the orbit of dreams and chimeras guarded deep inside his mind and soul.

From this supreme pleasure have I been able to witness during a recent visit that I made to the workshop of my friend and today celebrated artist, Miguel de la Espriella, “NOBLE”, who after creating filigree on the canvas, hid them with a heavy layer that covered with darkness the first and magnificent figures only to later, as night follows the fantastic clarity of the day, begin to make the original painting appear with a charm attributable to wizardry. "NOBLE" taught me the technique of chiaroscuro or tenebrism. Things of the spirit, I would say, as art can only be conceived of as an allegory to the relation man has with the infinite, the firmament and the stars.

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