Gallery Gift Sale – RARE RICIETL VURKOVISTKY SCULPTURE | Saturday, Jun-03

ARTIST BIO

RICIETL VURKOVITSKY DHA

The fascinating life of Ricietl Vurkovitsky encompasses suspense, struggle, loss, hope, and redemption, beginning early in life. During the Holocaust, his family escaped from East Europe. Father, mother, grandmother and two sons emigrated to
Colombia to begin a new life. Ricietl was born in 1952, in the Choco region
of Colombia. As a small boy, his mother taught him to use the rainfall’s
mud as clay to mold and form shapes…all it took to engage his gift.

At age 7, a Cali art show featured his amazing talent. In the same year, he lost his entire family to a plane crash in the Colombian wilderness. Ricietl, not onboard,
was left behind, an orphan. He entered the area’s Catholic orphanage in Cali,
where the nuns nurtured his creativeness, encouraging him to engage in
any media that interested him. His first love was sculpting with clay. With
support from the art community he graduated to bronze. In his teens,
the art world in South America recognized his works, awarding him
merit in exhibitions that quickly spread across the continent.
By the age of 20, Ricietl was recognized around the world.

Vurkovitsky rode the wave of sculpture popularity in the 1980’s and 90’s, with
his work adorning great collections of fine art worldwide, including
the Vatican Museum and the Imperial Court of Japan.

Ricietl Vurkovitsky is the only surviving artist of the Group of Seven Mystical Artists
of the 20th Century, selected by CAF, the Closed Fist of the Kabbalah. The others
are Paul Klee, Jesus Soto, Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso and
Mark Rothko. Vurkovitsky, the youngest in the group by several decades,
is actively producing sculpture today