Dawn in the Andes
The artist, Alejandro Obregon (1920 – 1992), lived much of his life in Colombia but lived, worked, and trained in many European and America regions. Obregon uses the Andean condor bird in many of his paintings which is often associated as a Colombian symbol. Obregon’s work is a good example of the abstract Surrealist trend in Latin America.
According to the artist, this painting represents the intensity of a rain forest sunrise and the very colourful nature of South America. He remarked that the Andean mountain range was like a cord linking all the Americas. The painting is also said to capture the majesty of the endangered condor whose eggs are made fragile by pesticides. His works are found in many prominent museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum both in New York.
The gift was presented by the Colombian President, Belisario Betancur, to the United Nations as accepted by Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar, with the artist in attendance.
At the ceremony President Betancur said, “Colombia is presenting to the United Nations something it would have dearly loved to keep.”