Esteban Vicente in his studio in Bridgehampton, ca. 1967.
These pieces whisper, seek to communicate something of their emotion residue. Vicente wants to move you, but unlike Rothko, he never seeks to consume you. --Peter Simek, D Magazine
Abstract Expressionist painter Esteban Vicente was born in 1903 in Turégano, Spain and moved to the United States in 1936, joining the bohemian community of New York School artists. He shared a studio in the East Village with Willem de Kooning and his contemporaries included Elaine de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Franz Kline and Barnett Newman. Additionally Vicente helped organize and participated in the famous 1951, 9th Street Art Exhibition.
In a 2013 catalog of Vicente's work, New York art gallery owner Barbara Toll wrote, "Esteban Vicente created a garden with the colors he wanted to paint. And with the garden as inspiration, he used those colors to paint ethereal canvases."
Vicente died at the age of 97 in 2001 in Bridgehampton, NY.