Enrique Grau
Enrique Grau (December 18, 1920 – April 1, 2004) was a Colombian artist best known for his depictions of Amerindian and Afro-Colombian figures. He was a member of the triumvirate of key Colombian artists of the 20th century which included Fernando Botero and Alejandro Obregón.
Also recorded as Araujo Enrique Grau
Enrique Grau

Sahaquiel9102 · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Born
- 1920 · Spain.
- Died
- 2004 · Bogotá.
- Nationality
- Colombia
- Occupation
- sculptor · painter · theatre designer · filmmaker · artist
- Fields
- painting
- Education
- National University of Colombia
- Languages
- Spanish
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Documentary summary
Enrique Grau (December 18, 1920 – April 1, 2004) was a Colombian artist best known for his depictions of Amerindian and Afro-Colombian figures. He was a member of the triumvirate of key Colombian artists of the 20th century which included Fernando Botero and Alejandro Obregón.
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q558553 · wikipedia · Enrique Grau
In this article
Early life
Early life
Enrique Grau studied at National University of Colombia. The recorded working language is Spanish. The field of work recorded is painting. Work by Enrique Grau is recorded in the collections of Tate, Bryn Mawr College Special Collections and Banco de la República Art Collection.
Grau was born in Panama City, Panama, just like many of the children of his time with Colombian parents, and raised in Cartagena, Colombia. He was the son of Enrique Grau Velez and Carmen Araujo Jimenez.
Career
Career
A self-made artist, he was influenced by the Colombian masters Ignacio Gomez Jaramillo, Santiago Martinez Delgado and Pedro Nel Gómez. Grau studied at the Art Students League in New York City, U.S. from 1941 to 1942, and later toured Italy, where he learned etching and fresco techniques before moving to the city of Cartagena. He won the Salón de Artistas Colombianos in 1957 launching a well-noted career in the arts. His associations of white, black, and indigenous figures and objects such as masks, eggs, fruit, or cages brought him international fame, with exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and the Paris Museum of Modern Art.
Identity
Identity
Enrique Grau is recorded as sculptor, painter, theatre designer, filmmaker and artist.
"Rita a las 5:00". Escultura de Enrique Grau en el Parque Nacional de Bogotá.
Felipe Restrepo Acosta
Escultura de enrique Grau en el parque Nacional de Bogotá.
Felipe Restrepo Acosta
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1920
Enrique Grau was born in 1920 at Spain.
2004
Enrique Grau died in 2004 at Bogotá.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Spain.
Birth place
Bogotá.
Death place
Death and legacy
Grau donated 1,300 works of art (including some by other artists) to the city of Cartagena, which were used to establish the Museum of Modern Art. Grau died of pulmonary complications at a hospital in Bogotá, Colombia, at age 83.
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Grau, Enrique, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2011
- La idea de lo propio y la enunciación de una vanguardia artística local: Enrique Grau y el movimiento Mar y Cielo en Cartagena, 1940, H-ART. Revista de historia, teoría y crítica de arte, 2017
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2017
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q558553: Enrique Grau
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Enrique Grau”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Obituary: Enrique Grau, 83; His Art Depicted Indians, Afro-Colombians. Los Angeles Times. April 3, 2004.
- 2.Amazonas Editores. Enrique Grau - Colombian artist. 1991. 9589522017.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Grau, Enrique, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011Crossref registry
Institutional witnessscholarly publication
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Paintings
19,183 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Enrico PollastriniArtist
- Enrico ReycendArtist
- Enrico ScuriArtist
- Enrique EcheverríaArtist
- Enrique Lynch del SolarArtist
- Enrique SimonetArtist
- Enrique TábaraArtist
- Enzo BenedettoArtist
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