GRACIELA RODO BOULANGER (1933-  )

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Among the most widely known artists to come from the Latin American art movement, the recurring theme of Graciela Rodo Boulanger's compositions is   the innocence and simplicity of children exuberant in their joyous playful worlds of fantasy, performance and exploration. Her unique depictions of her subjects has become her calling card. Inspired by her Bolivian roots, her highly stylized approach and sensibilities as an experimenter and colorist has won her acclaim as a   respected and prolific Latin American artist.  Her work has been widely exhibited and collected in the United States, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

The original etchings and lithographs offered in our collection were created by the artist and published by Lublin Graphics over a period of 25 years.

“Mouvements”, a series of five original lithographs published in 1990, is available both in a suite or separate, individual pieces. The five lithographs—“Andante,” “Scherzo,” “Largo,” “Allegro,” and “Adagio”—are named for different tempos, styles and compositions of classical music. Musical compositions that take on a “walking pace” are known as Andante, while those considered as Allegro or Scherzo connote a joyous and playful tempo. 

The final two movements, Adagio (translated to “at ease”) and Largo, are definitively slower and stately in their beats per minute. In Boulanger’s representation, she combines imagery of musicians and dancers performing one of the aforementioned classical movements. The vibrant colors of “Allergro” and “Scherzo” as the ballerinas leap across a light background conveys the lively and gleeful feeling of their musical counterparts, while the bowed heads and dark-colored backgrounds of “Adagio” and “Largo” emphasize the somber emotions evoked in songs of the same nature. All five pieces seem to act as an homage to the complexities and unique characteristics of the symphonies and musical works that inspired them.