Carlos Alberto González

A year ago, he decided to take a sabbatical in Sevilla (Colombia), in a house he had outfitted with furniture and objects in the Art Nouveau, Art Deco, the 1950s and 1960s, where he also offered gatherings, concerts and exhibitions for his friends and the city's public. Also to enjoy his flower-filled estate in the coffee-producing region of Gualandai, where he had arranged for the seeding of a native-tree forest. Among the many projects that arose Carlos Alberto González's passion Arte 19 Gallery, which he opened next to the Bogotá Modern Art Museum. He presented the work of young and notable artists like Nadín Ospina, Luis Roldán, Oswaldo Macía, and Mario Opaz, among others. Although the gallery eventually closed, González remained connected to the art world, producing exhibitions such as Art Deco at the Bogotá Museum of Modern Art or of Art Nouveau at the ArtNexus Foundation Space, as well as solo shows by Erika Diettes and Germán Arubla. His life work, however, was the Art Deco Museum, which he established in the Las Nieves neighborhood of Bogotá to hold an important collection of furniture, objects, drawings, and paintings he collected over the years. González was a student of the era and of the influence of Art Deco around the world, and an expert on the Colombian style known as Deco-criollo. Carlos Alberto González died after heart surgery, and his absence will be greatly felt in the Colombian cultural sphere.