Into the Timeless Artistry of Livio Abramo’s

Livio Abramo is one of the most well known artists in Brazilian art history. He’s famously known for his intricate woodcut printings while also being a painter, aquarellist, and a teacher of expressionism. Today he’s considered to be a “key player in the development of Paraguayan modern art." 

Though born on June 23, 1903 in Araraquara, Brazil to Italian parents, Abramo adopted Paraguay as his nation and created all his pieces here. His first visit to Paraguay in 1956 allowed his art to focus on the human and nature aspects. Not much is known about his early life and how he got into art, but he says his skills are autodidactic and all self taught. 

To learn about his Brazilian nature, he created the series "Obrero” (Worker) and “Guerra civil española” (Spanish Civil War) around the late 1920s. By 1948, he went on to make a  xylo-engrave series based on the book “Pelo sertao” by a Brazilian writer, Alfonso Arinos. The next three years (1949-1951), he dedicated himself to designs, which includes his pieces: Rio de Janeiro, Macumba, and Negritude to show the beauty of Carioca city and “Dina” the fascination of the black beauty.

Before being an artist, Abramo used to be a journalist for 33 years. His political views (which were so controversial that he went to jail a few times) comes through in his artists work as well. In his book, Etapas de un itinerario: grabados, dibujos, acuarelas, he claims many of his works are inspired by his political views.

In 1950 he won a trip abroad from the Salão Nacional de Belas Artes, Rio de Janeiro, so he traveled to Europe for almost two years with his daughter, Larissa. He visited many renowned European museums where he began to get inspiration. A few years later, he went on to open Julian de la Herreria, his own engraving workshop in Asunción, Paraguay and Estúdio Gravura in São Paulo. This is when Abramo started to incorporate geometrization of space in his work. 

Achievements: 

1951: Had a special room at the First Biennial of Modern Art of São Paulo; also had a special room at the sixth edition of the event.

1956: Provided an individual exposition to the Modern Arts Museum of Río de Janeiro, and another at São Paulo.

1957: Founded the engraving workshop Julián de la Herrería in Asunción.

1960: Along with engraver María Bonomi, founded the Estudio Gravura at São Paulo.

1964: Moved permanently to Asunción, where he worked training Paraguayan artists.

1976: Made an introspective show at the São Paulo Biennial.

1978: Invited to repeat his previous retrospective by the Modern Arts Museum of Río de Janeiro.

1983: Made an exposition in the Cultural Center of São Paulo.

1990: The Lasar Segall Museum organizes a retrospective of his work.

On April 26, 1992, just before his 89th birthday, Abramo passed away in Asuncion. The artist was known for his extreme kindness, humility, and integrity, especially when he taught and trained many other artists. He is now considered to be one of the renovators of the xylography in the 20th century.