Miguel de la Espriella
Encyclopedia
Miguel de la Espriella more commonly known by his artistic name, Noble, is a self-taught painter and sculptor from Sucre
, Colombia
, whose art has been presented widely within his country and throughout the world.
Noble's work principally reflects the theme of nature that he experienced in the countryside while growing up on the Colombian coast.
The paintings for which he is best known are most often an integration of still lifes and landscapes with a strong "ethereal" presence related to the Latin American school of magic realism
and reminiscent of the land in which Macondo
, the imaginary town written about in "100 Years of Solitude" by García Márquez
the winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature
, could have been set. Indeed, it may be this essence to Noble's artwork that provoked Gabo to write about it when he said:
´s or "corralejas" - events native to where he grew up on the Colombian coast.
Noble signs his artwork with a caricature.
Sucre, Sucre
Sucre is a town and municipality located in the Sucre Department, northern Colombia. Is located in the Subregion of the Mojana with the Munacipalities of Majagual and Guranda which conforms part of the so-called Moposine depression, a geographical area characterized by being under sea-level and...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, whose art has been presented widely within his country and throughout the world.
Noble's work principally reflects the theme of nature that he experienced in the countryside while growing up on the Colombian coast.
The paintings for which he is best known are most often an integration of still lifes and landscapes with a strong "ethereal" presence related to the Latin American school of magic realism
Magic realism
Magic realism or magical realism is an aesthetic style or genre of fiction in which magical elements blend with the real world. The story explains these magical elements as real occurrences, presented in a straightforward manner that places the "real" and the "fantastic" in the same stream of...
and reminiscent of the land in which Macondo
Macondo
For the oil spill, see: Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosionMacondo is a fictional town described in Gabriel García Márquez's novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. It is the home town of the Buendía family.-Aracataca:...
, the imaginary town written about in "100 Years of Solitude" by García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
the winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
, could have been set. Indeed, it may be this essence to Noble's artwork that provoked Gabo to write about it when he said:
"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 chiaroscuroChiaroscuroChiaroscuro in art is "an Italian term which literally means 'light-dark'. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts which are often used to suggest the volume and modelling of the subjects depicted"....
s 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." [Published in the Colombian magazine FAMA (2000)]
Sculpture
Noble's bronze sculptures reflect more upon the normal cultural events that occur in Colombia, particularly those relating to the land and the life that is particular to that region of the world. His sculptures have covered events like coleoColeo
Coleo is a traditional Venezuelan and Colombian sport, very similar to a rodeo, where a small group of llaneros on horseback pursue cattle at high speeds through a narrow pathway in order to drop or tumble them....
´s or "corralejas" - events native to where he grew up on the Colombian coast.
Noble signs his artwork with a caricature.