El Grito (The Scream)

Oswaldo Guayasamín was raised by a Quechua father and a mestiza mother. At the School of Fine Arts in Quito, he was exposed to Indigenismo, a movement to recognize and recover indigenous culture within modern discourses on national identity. Guayasamín adapted these ideas within his practice, notably in his series Trail of Tears and Age of Anger, which describe the tragedy and anguish of the indigenous people. The subject of "El Grito" screams in rage and pain, conveying the visceral suffering caused through violence and oppression. Fields of blue, grey, and yellow amplify the anxious mood and frame the subject’s exaggerated mouth and impassioned scream to the world.

Text credit: Produced in collaboration with the University of Maryland Department of Art History & Archaeology and by Ankita Sahoo.