page_title: Efraín Andrade Viteri
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: Efraín Andrade Viteri / Biography / Career
caption_attribution_description: English: Efraín Andrade Viteri with his children in 1958.
context_page_description: Efraín Andrade Viteri was an Ecuadorian painter known as "The Painter of the Négritude Esmeraldeña".
  Andrade pioneered the arts in Esmeraldas the mid-twentieth century, where he brought out the culture of the people of African descent through his artwork. He marked an era in the culture of Esmeraldas as the first painter to present an exhibition in June 1951 at Casa de la Cultura Benjamín Carrión. The work was highly admired by the audience and media. At a young age, Andrade mastered the pen and ink technique. The drawings and portraits are the ultimate representation of his artistic talent. One can see how the subjects take on new life in the exquisite delicacy of his pen strokes.
  During the 1950s and 60s most of his artwork was acquired by foreigners temporarily living in Esmeraldas, who later took the paintings to their own countries such as Sweden, Norway, France, the Netherlands and the United States. The greatest legacy of Andrade is the 2.5m x 15m mural on the façade of the Folke Anderson Stadium, which he designed and built between 1957 and 1958.
context_section_description: Andrade exhibited a vocation for painting early in life, and while attending high school designed and painted men's neckties and tagua-buttons for export to Italy. He studied painting and architecture at the Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) from 1937 to 1941. During this time he developed good friendships with Eduardo Kingman, Cesar Bravomalo and Oswaldo Guayasamín.
  In 1941, Andrade moved to Manabí with the sole purpose of painting, and by the end of this year he had completed a collection of oil paintings and some portraits utilizing his already mastered “pen and ink” technique. He presented his first exhibition in Portoviejo, Manabí at Casa de la Cultura and soon after he returned to Quito to work along with his friend Dr. Humberto Albornoz at the “Plan Regulador” in the development of the first formal city planning project of the city of Quito.
  Andrade moved to Bogotá, Colombia in 1947 where he worked as commercial craft man, enjoyed the company of his good friend and artist César Bravomalo, who had also moved to Bogotá and made time to maintain his passion for painting. In September of that year, Andrade arranged an exhibition at the Dirección Cultural y Bellas Artes de Bogotá (Bogotá's Fine Art Board). The pen and ink portraits and drawings exhibited earned him a highly positive review from critic Ricardo Ortiz McCormick, Academic, published in El Tiempo in September 3, 1947.
  
  His concern with social issues were expressed in his collection of photographs taken in the Lima and Cuzco areas where he traveled during 1948 with friend Luis Navarrete, and where he developed friendship with Dr. Agustin Vera Loor. In Cuzco he expressed his curiosity for the history behind the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, then he spent time making the ruins his “still-models” and playing with light and contrast in his photography. 
  In 1950 in Quito, Andrade met and married Flor de Maria Vásquez Tello, born in Manta, January 14, 1922, daughter of Octavio Vásquez Ruperti, from Manta, and Jesus Tello Arellano, from Esmeraldas.
  Efraín and Flor de María settled in Esmeraldas, a then remote province bordering the Pacific Ocean to the west and Colombia to the north. Andrade felt in love with the green province from the first day he set foot on it. They had four children, Jorge Ernesto, Flor de Maria, Josefa Patricia and Gloria Teresa.
  After establishing himself in Esmeraldas, Andrade developed a good friendship with owner of Astral, Folke Anderson, who admired his artwork and enjoyed classic music like him. In 1956 Folke Anderson financed the construction of a stadium to donate to Esmeraldas and appointed Andrade to design and build a mural for the frontispiece of the stadium, which Andrade completed in 1958. The eleven figures that make up the mural represent the people of Esmeraldas' passion for soccer.
  In Esmeraldas, he used his knowledge and experience in the fields of calligraphy, draftsmanship and architecture. He designed and built schools and houses that were known for their functionality, beauty and artistic design. In 1960 he served as Director of Public Works City of Esmeraldas.
caption: Efraín Andrade Viteri with his children in 1958.
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