Lot 122: Eduardo Kingman O/C Painting, Indigenous Laborers/Obreros, 1938

Eduardo Kingman (Ecuador/United States, 1913-1997) oil on canvas painting that depicts two indigenous workers who use straps and ropes to carry a heavy load, 1938. A worker in white and red kneels and carries a large sack on his back while a second, standing figure assists. Signed and dated 1938, lower right. Housed in a simple wooden frame, likely original. Sight: 30 in. H x 28 in. W. Frame: 35 1/2 in. H x 34 1/4 in. W. Artist Biography: “Born in the southern province of Loja, Ecuador to a North American father and an Ecuadoran mother, Eduardo Kingman Riofrio later moved to Quito to study at the Escuela de Bellas Artes. Kingman distinguished himself in the 1930s through his powerful renditions of indigenous workers depicted in a monumental style…In addition to painting, Kingman produced woodcuts and lithographs and painted several murals throughout Quito. He made his first trip outside South America in 1938 to assist Camilo Egas with his mural for the Ecuadoran pavilion at the New York World’s Fair. In the 1940s Kingman traveled to the United States to work and exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Art and in 1947 he participated in an exhibition sponsored by the Pan American Union in Washington, D.C. Upon his return to Quito in 1948, he was appointed director of the Museo de Arte Colonial, where he worked for the next 20 years while also teaching at the Escuela de Bellas Artes…Through his easel paintings and murals Kingman addressed both local and international social issues.” (Source: Art Museum of the Americas)

PROVENANCE: Collection of Dr. Aaron Benchetrit (Spanish Morocco/Columbia, 1886-1967) and Carmen Ruth Vargas (Venezuela, b. 1891), thence by descent. Note: Dr. Benchetrit served as medical director and administrator of the Leproserias de Venezuela (1921-26) before he moved to Bogota, Colombia, where he oversaw all leprosy cases in the country from 1927 to 1935 and directed scientific research on leprosy. He also served as president of the Centro Israelita of Bogota and as president of the Zionist Federation of Colombia, 1943-44. (Source: Adapted from Encyclopaedia Judaica)
 

CONDITION: Overall very good condition. With negligible craquelure and minor frame abrasion without loss, especially along lower edge. Canvas is strip-lined.