Born: 28 October 1920, Venezuela
Died: 13 August 2020
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
Although she was involved with art throughout her life, painter Luchita Hurtado only received recognition near the end of her life. Named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2019, she landed her first solo show in a public gallery at age 98. Hurtado worked in different styles that drew elements from 20th-century avant garde and modernist art movements including Surrealism, abstraction, and Magical Realism. Among her best-known works is the 1960s ‘I Am’ series: self-portraits that Hurtado painted by looking down at her own body, often in closets as it was this only place she could work in between raising her sons and managing the home. Later works demonstrate her environmental concerns, with recurring motifs that include humans merging with trees and texts such as ‘Water Air Earth’ and ‘We Are Just a Species’.