“For the new generations, painting Argentine references means not forgetting them. “It’s keeping them alive,” confesses the painter from Buenos Aires. Juan Riviere. The plastic artist, originally from Laprida, was selected to exhibit at the prestigious Paris Autumn Salon which will take place from January 18 to 21, 2024 in the International Salon of Contemporary Art Depuis 1903. Celebrating the 120 years of this prestigious exhibition, Riviere will be the only Argentine resident in the country who will be present with his latest artistic work.
The portrait of Astor Piazzolla, called “Astor, dear,” He was the one selected by the French organization. An emblematic seal by Juan Riviere, who specializes in immortalizing the different personalities of Argentine culture in oil paintings. His work titled “Maradona”, made up of a series of portraits dedicated to the world champion soccer player, it stood out in the exhibition held in The Argentine House of Paris last year.
About his work dedicated to “Ten”, Riviere noted: “He passed away in November and I think I started between March and April of the following year. He is one of the Argentine idols that I like the most and added to his death, I considered that my first series should be dedicated to him. Despite having finished the series, I continue painting it and I have already made five more paintings of Maradona that are not from the collection. I will always continue painting it.”
On Saturday, September 23, within the framework of the Museum Nighta sample will be displayed in the Great Hall “La Boca”, in which the Buenos Aires portraitist participated with one of the last paintings dedicated to the athlete born in Villa Fiorito. The exhibition, which will take place at 601 Pedro de Mendoza Avenue, will continue until October 1 with free admission. The portrait of Diego Maradona For this event he has the particularity of wearing the blue and gold t-shirt, a rarity compared to Riviere’s other “Maradonian” works.
The bridge that goes from Maradona to Piazzolla was carried out thanks to a new series that Riviere produced this year and titled “Good Argentine mustaches”. In that collection, in which you can see oil paintings dedicated to José de San Martín, Charly García and other personalities of national culture, who have characteristic facial hair under their nose, is where the image of the composer of “Libertango” and “Goodbye Nonino” was devised. “In the case of San Martín, I chose to do the painting from a daguerreotype portrait, in which he had mustaches,” explained the native of Laprida.
The musician’s painting was selected for the exhibition D´Automne Hall. “It’s a dream, it’s the most important show in France. It started in 1903 and, in its 120 editions, they exhibited greats such as Matisse, Renoir, Rodin, Gauguin, Picasso, among others. We are three Argentinians chosen, but one lives in Paris and the other in Barcelona. So I am the only Argentine resident in the chosen country,” said Riviere, who a couple of weeks ago participated in the BADA Fair with a prominent portrait of Marta Minujín and Lionel Messi.
But the football phenomenon continues to thrive worldwide, in the Art Shopping Pariswithin the sample Carrousel du Louvrethe same portrait of the Argentine player of the Inter Miami, from October 20 to 22. Then the same painting will travel to the Netherlands in the Expo Amsterdam 2023 which will take place from October 27 to 30. Finally, the closing of the painting route will be in the Cite Universitaire de Paris.
Riviere’s painting technique derives from photography and the influence of his grandfather, the painter Washington Riviere. “In painting I found something more exclusive, I have to be grateful for having met my great uncle. Meeting him and taking photos of his works, I began to be interested in painting and portraiture. I came across the drawing again. The portrait becomes more interesting from painting than from photography, because I put something of mine. What I get from the colors and the palette. I choose black and white photos, but based on that I choose the most powerful color values that make my signature,” the painter acknowledged.
Regarding the national panorama, Juan Riviere concluded: “The art market in Argentina is weak, except for BADA or some other gallery that has sales. A strength may be the number of options there are, free more than anything, for exhibitions. There is a lot of incentive to the subject of art, culturally, but very weak from the sale. There are huge stained glass windows like BADA, Lunatica, ArteBA and AFFAIR. There are many interesting proposals that are worth knowing.”
Image gallery
