Good
disposition for painting is seen in Alvarez de Lugo very early
on, and thus receives first guidance on drawing at home from his
uncle Ramon Santana, one of the founding members of the Circulo
de Bellas Artes de Caracas, creator of the Museo Criollo Raul
Santana (Caracas Municipal Council).
Formal
studies in painting begin for Alvarez de Lugo at the School of
Plastic Arts of Caracas in 1941, where he specialized in figures
and portraits. It is here where he learns the craft of his profession,
which he understands to be experiences of faith, a delivery of
an ideal, vocational service. Art is like a militia that demands
total and full commitment from the militant. And that is what
Alvarez de Lugo learned, and that is what we see throughout the
years of dedication to painting, which would be fair to say that
it has been all of his life.
Amongst
the teachers of Alvarez de Lugo were the Spaniard Ramon Martin
Durban, who shows him that a portrait is not merely a copy of
the of the physiognomy, but that behind the façade in which
the gestures and features that identify a character, the artist
must discover and bring out the soul.
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In
1950 Alvarez de Lugo registers at the Famous Artist Course of
Westport Connecticut, in which such renowned masters like Ben
Stahl, Stephen Dohanos, Austin Briggs and Norman Rockwell, amongst
others have participated. All these artist naturally make the
artist consider a painting within the configuration of nature
and an academic concept, even if technically is very free, always
with an impressionist sense about it all, with great knowledge
and incredible control on drawing.
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In
1964 he is involved in his first individual exhibition at the
Sala Armando Reveron with portraits, female nudes, horses and
folklore motives. Since then he has been considered as one of
our most important nurturers of figurative realism. Afterwards
there were several individual and collective exhibitions in Venezuela
and abroad, which can be looked up in our web site for exhibitions;
and which received very important opinions and criticism from
specialized critics.
In
1965 The National Academy of Medicine asks for a portrait of the
Liberator Simon Bolivar to display in their conference room, thus
initiating a series of important portraits of Simon Bolivar and
others. In this case a particular portrait of Simon Bolivar is
worth mentioning which is displayed at the Palacio de Miraflores,
as well as several portraits of the founders of the house of Boulton,
a portrait of Simon Bolivar for Seguros Venezuela and a portrait
of the painter Arturo Michelena for the International Airport
in the city of Valencia.
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The
design of a commemorative postal stamp in Venezuela honoring the
landing of the man on the moon in 1969 is a work by the artist
Luis Alvarez de Lugo.
Since
his first exhibition he is seen as one of the most important painters
of the Cerro El Avila dedicating his solo exhibition in 1994,
exclusively to this subject.
With
the support of great knowledge in drawing and of anatomy, he begins
in 1980 his sculpting work in cast bronze, in the city of Sarasota
in Florida.
Undoubtedly,
the result of the life and work of Alvarez de Lugo is the development
of skills in a multiplicity of matters from landscapes, folklore
scenes, portraits, nudes, and figures including flora and fauna.
Aside
from his daily painting work, he dedicates two days a week to
teaching classes of drawing and painting to children and adults,
which he gives from his own workshop.
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