Eduardo Kingman, one of the best known artists to emerge from Ecuador in the 20th century, was a man of the people; an artist concerned with the struggle of his country's indigenous men and women. Kingman was born in Loja, Ecuador and studied at the Esceula de Bellas Artes in Quito and several other institutions in Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia and the United States. Later Kingman returned to the Escuela de Bellas Artes as a teacher and also served as the Director of the Museum of Colonial Art in Quito.
Kingman's paintings represented a new generation of ideas in politics, literature and art. He was committed to presenting a social message on a figurative aesthetic plane. All his paintings convey a solitary emotional state, not unlike Kingman's personality. The artist lived an isolated and secluded lifestyle, submerging himself in the confusion of colors and creation of his art to produce a strong and expressive body of work. Rebozo Amarillo is indicative of this strong expressivity and bold aesthetic. The subject of this painting conveys a profound tenderness, in response to the hostility of this vulgar world. There is a sincerity and purity that fills this apparently simplistic canvas.
As is common among Kingman's oeuvre, the subject's hands are an important focal point in this painting. The subject's hands appear aged and allude to the labor and production for which they are used.
Eduardo Kingman's work emphasizes expressivity and spontaneity with strong color and line. The subject's face is frank and expressive with dark eye sockets, conveying a sadness and abandon that exemplifies the poverty and hardship of Ecuador's indigenous people.
In 1940, Kingman founded the Caspicara Gallery in Quito which became an artistic venue and meeting place for many Latin American artists. The work of Eduardo Kingman has been featured in exhibitions in Paris, Washington, San Francisco and Mexico.