Oswaldo Guayasamín (Ecuadorian, 1919-1999)
Madre y Niño

signed 'GUAYASAMIN' (lower right)
oil on canvas

Unframed: 90 x 45.2 cm. (35 3/8 x 17 7/8 in.)

We are grateful to the Fundación Guayasamín for their assistance in confirming the authenticity of this work.

Private Collection, U.K., from whom acquired by the present owner

Oswaldo Guayasamín is a central figure in twentieth-century Latin American Expressionism, who gained international stature in the 1950s and 1960s for the insistent, visceral force of his depictions of an oppressed and tragic humanity. His work, characterised by powerfully graphic, modernist forms, draws on Cubist structure to portray Latin American subjects shaped by political oppression, racism, poverty, and deep class divisions. This visual language was formed through early experiences in Quito, including the death of a close friend during political unrest, and underpins his sustained focus on social injustice and human suffering.

Madre y Niño distils these concerns into a concentrated, intimate composition. The vertically aligned figures of mother and child are compressed into a shallow pictorial space, their forms defined by angular planes and heavy black contours. Their mask-like faces, articulated through contrasting zones of ochre and shadow, balance individual presence with a more universal expression, while recalling the formal influence of pre-Columbian art. The palette is deliberately restrained: ochres, blacks, and a muted blue ground establish a sombre register, avoiding decorative effect in favour of clarity and weight. The mother’s elongated hand, placed across the child’s chest, anchors the composition; the gesture is protective yet tense, conveying vigilance rather than comfort.

Although more intimate in scale than the artist’s well-known large cycles, this work maintains the same ethical focus. It avoids sentimentality, presenting maternity as a condition defined by fragility and endurance. Madre y Niño thus serves as a concise statement of Guayasamín’s broader artistic vision.