Jesus Rafael Soto Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Soto Jesus Rafel (Ciudad Bolivar, 1923 - Paris, 2005) Jesus Rafel Soto was a Venezuelan painter and sculptor and was one of the main exponents of kinetic art. Soto's works are characterized by identical and multiple elements with the aim of achieving total anonymity and moving away from subjective art. Read the full biography

Jesus Rafael Soto Biography

Soto Jesus Rafel (Ciudad Bolivar, 1923 - Paris, 2005) Jesus Rafel Soto was a Venezuelan painter and sculptor and was one of the main exponents of kinetic art. Soto's works are characterized by identical and multiple elements with the aim of achieving total anonymity and moving away from subjective art. In 1955 he began creating plexiglass overlays. Soto's paintings began to take on a sculptural dimension when he began suspending wire and metal rods into the environment. Soto's works create a concrete relationship with the perception of visitors, disconcerting and fascinating them. Soto enrolled at the Art Academy of Caracas and directed the Escuela de Artes Plasticas in Maracaibo from 1947 to 1950. In the same year he met Jean Tinguely, Victor Vasarely and Yaacov Agam and with them organized several exhibitions at the Denise Renè Gallery and the Salon des Realites Nouvelles. In the 1970s and 1990s the artist's works were exhibited at MoMA and the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In 1973 the Jesus Soto Museum of Modern Art was inaugurated in Ciudad Bolivar which preserves many paintings, installations and sculptures by the artist.