Omar D’Leon

Painter & Poet

“The Fall of Russian, 1990” by Omar D’Leon
Oil on canvas, 20 x 24 in

Omar d’León is from Managua, Nicaragua and is regarded as one of the most renowned Nicaraguan painters and poets. He studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Nicaragua under his mentor Rodrigo Peñalba who introduced European Impressionistic painting and magical realism qualities into Nicaraguan art. He founded a museum in Managua in 1970 named Museo-Galeria 904 which showcased art of Nicaragua from pre-Hispanic to contemporary. His early works were inspired by the cross-hatching technique of the frescoes of Pompeii. Omar’s unique style infuses multiple layers of paint, oil, wax and scoring in a cross-hatching pattern that creates an illusion similar to pointillism. This process of layering is done with precision as the artist places layers of opposite dark, cool and warm colors as well as pigments with transparent and opaque qualities.
The artist uses a knife like a paint brush, creating scores at different angles and pressure which controls the amount of light that is reflected and creates the illusion of a three-dimensional quality in his works. Omar’s love for his country and its people are reflected in sensuous fluid forms.

During the Sandinistas Revolution of 1979 he was forced to escape his beloved country and flee to America. His experience can be seen in his work which conveys a mystical quality that permeates the notion of abundance and loss, contains religious iconography and classical Grecian ideas of philosophy, community and beauty. “I try to live with freedom inside and to find the inspiration of humanity… The thing that doesn’t destroy you, gives to you more force, more vision more capacity to love.”

d’León‘s documentation took place in 2019 and was sponsored by James & Meg Easton. The AfterGLOW was hosted by Dennis Mitchel and Richard Sanders.

The Focus On The Masters archive has extensive information about this artist.

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