Víctor Grippo

Who was Víctor Grippo?

Víctor Grippo was an Argentine painter, engraver and sculptor, considered the father of conceptual art in Argentina. He was born in Junín, province of Buenos Aires, the elder of two sons of an Italian immigrant father and an Argentine mother of Albanese origin.

Grippo was raised in his birthtown, and in his youth he moved to the capital of the province, La Plata, and then to the city of Buenos Aires. He studied Chemistry and Pharmacy in the University of La Plata, and attended seminars by Héctor Cartier at the Fine Arts School. He had been interested in art from an early age. He started off as a painter and engraver in the 1950s, and in the 1960s he began experimenting with sculpture, and produced animated pieces.

In 2002 Konex Foundation from Argentina granted him the Diamond Konex Award, one of the most prestigious awards in Argentina, as the most important personality in the Visual Arts of his country in the last decade.

Grippo died in Buenos Aires in February 2002.