José Cestero, artist from Santo Domingo

I paint because I like it—My works are based on realities, not dreams...

As a young aspiring artist, José Cestero (Santo Domingo, 1937) studied art under Joseph Fulop, Gilberto Hernández Ortega and José Gausach at National School of Fine Arts—enrolling in 1950 and graduating in 1954.

Soon after his graduation, refusing mandatory military service imposed by the Trujillo dictatirship, Cestero travels to the United States. He returns to the Dominican Republic after Trujillo's assassination (1961), joining Silvano Lora, José Ramírez Conde, Iván Tovar and Ada Balcácer in the formation of the avant-garde group called 'Art and Liberation'.

In 2015, Cestero received the National Fine Arts Award, which is awarded each year in recognition of an artist's career and contributions to the development of the national art.

José Cestero has been widely recognized by art historians and collectors in the Dominican Republic, for the simple style and free expressions of his paintings. To which the artist has added:

The most difficult part, if you can say that there is such a thing. Is choosing the colors, and having the right tones to capture in the artwork, what you expect the public to perceive when they see one of my creations.