Julio Uruguay Alpuy was an Uruguayan painter, sculptor, and muralist.
25 Facts About Julio Alpuy
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Julio Alpuy had a prolific career and his works are exhibited throughout the world.
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Julio Alpuy was born in Tacuarembo, Uruguay, the capital of the Tacuarembo department in northern Uruguay, on January 27,1919, to Sixto Julio Alpuy and Virginia Bevans.
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When Julio Alpuy was 18 months old his mother died, so he was raised by his paternal grandmother and aunts.
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Julio Alpuy's childhood was spent in the countryside, where he learned various farming skills, but he attended school.
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At the age of sixteen, Julio Alpuy was sent to Montevideo to continue his education.
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In 1939, Julio Alpuy walked into an exhibition of Jose Cuneo's watercolors.
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Julio Alpuy was amazed at the watercolors, so he bought various supplies and began drawing.
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Julio Alpuy found a community that taught him how to create, but challenged him intellectually.
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In between his travels abroad, Julio Alpuy taught drawing at the TTG until 1955.
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Julio Alpuy's students include Jose Collell, Walter Deliotti, and Mario Lorieto.
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Julio Alpuy taught his students how to create with various mediums including stone, wood, and clay, as well as the theory of Constructive Universalism.
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Julio Alpuy composed his works through the use of a grid or as he called it "structure" whose proportions were set with the geometry of the Golden Mean, a recurrent number in the history of art that appears in natural forms.
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Julio Alpuy then chose archetypal symbols which he believed communicated universal messages and situated them inside the structure that organized the composition.
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Julio Alpuy traveled primarily in Bolivia and Peru, and visited the "Gate of the Sun" in Tiwanaku.
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Julio Alpuy additionally visited "Island of the Sun" and "Island of the Moon" at Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu.
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Julio Alpuy spent time in Greece where he studied classical and Byzantine architecture, sculpture, and mosaic.
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In 1953, Julio Alpuy ended his European tour in Madrid, and then returned to Montevideo.
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Julio Alpuy was not merely fascinated by images that were constructed, but how nature was the life-giving source to all.
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Julio Alpuy became interested in the "magic" or myths found in many cultures.
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In 1975, Julio Alpuy began to teach drawing and painting classes in his studio.
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Julio Alpuy continued to make and exhibit his art into his eighties.
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Julio Alpuy states that he was a fully developed artist by the time he moved to New York.
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Additionally, Julio Alpuy occasionally worked as a carpenter, so that the integrity of his work would not be influenced by money.
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Julio Alpuy's works are still exhibited today, and he has gained recognition as one of the great Uruguayan artists.