Guillermo Silva Santamaria Biography

Guillermo Silva Santamaria

Colombian

1921-2007

Biography

Painter, sculptor, engraver and writer, Guillermo Silva Santamaria (known as Silva) was born on June 7th, 1921 in Bogata, Colombia.  He studied various art techniques in Bogata, studied under the French painter Pierre Daguet in 1937 and had his first one-man show in Bogata in 1953. He studied engraving at the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado (also known as La Esmeralda) in Mexico City in 1956, and then later at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri where Atelier 17 printmaker Fred Becker was teaching experimental intaglio techiniques. He also studied in Paris at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure in Paris.

Silva married Maria Gallindo and lived with their two children in Mexico City, where, as a Master Engraver, he taught at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexcio and the Ibero-Amaricain University.  While there he perfected his intaglio technique of etching with watercolor.

Silva Santamaria then moved to India with his family. While living there for 10 years, he studied Yoga. He eventually became a Yoga teacher and a competent naturalist. While traveling all over the world, Silva was looking for a perfect place to live and work. He and his family finally decided to settle in Malaga, which is located in Southern Spain. Santamaria showed his work internationally. Later in his career he began working in other media, sculpture (wood and bronze) and ceramics, as well as oil painting.

Guillermo Silva Santamaria died on June 29, 2007 in Malaga, Spain.