Noe Canjura

Noe Canjura (Apopa, El Salvador, August 14, 1922 - Morienval, France, September 29, 1970) was a Salvadoran painter and a prominent figure in 20th century modern art in France.

Noe Canjura was born in 1922 in Apopa, a village in the Republic of El Salvador in Central America, to a family of landless peasants of humble origin. By the time of his death, he was recognized as one of the leading landscape, still life, and figure painters of France.

As a youth, Canjura was raised in intimate contact with the struggle of wrestling a livelihood from the infertile soil of his native village.

To pay part of his expenses and to lighten the weight of the sacrifices his father made to keep him in school, Canjura worked in a sawmill and often spent the night there, sleeping on bare boards.

His talent for drawing came to light when he was seventeen years old and, without knowing how or why, his adventure in the art world began. He first studied painting at the Academy of Painting of Valero Lecha in San Salvador (1942–1946).

Beginning in 1942, Canjura took part in all of the group exhibitions throughout El Salvador and several years later was exhibiting in Guatemala.

In 1948, he travelled to Mexico City to continue his studies. There, he was strongly influenced by Diego Rivera, who with Orozco and Siqueiros, was at the height of his fame. Gradually, Rivera’s influence lessened and Canjura turned to the art of Gauguin, gaining from him the idea of formal order in painting and the use of curves.

The same year, he had his first exhibition in the United States.

Canjura’s career changed dramatically in 1949 when he went to France to study at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts for special studies in the technique of fresco painting, on grant issued by his government. While in Paris the work of Courbet and Le Nain had strong attraction for him, though he clung to subjects that depicted the somber life and harsh soil of his native country.

He had his first one-man show in Paris in 1953 and, since then, France became his adopted country. Life in Paris was difficult and, like many others, he had to undertake various forms of manual labor to make a living.

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