Oswaldo Guayasamin was born on July 6, 1919 in Ecuador, the son of an indigenous Quechua father and Mestizo (mixed rae) mother. He was the oldest of ten children, and early on developed a talent for art. His father was a hardworking man who was distant with his son because he was physically abusive. On the other hand, Oswaldo loved his mother dearly, and she always supported her son. At the age of 12 he started art school. He married when he was 21 years old to another artist, Maruja Monteverde. They had four children -- two boys and two girls. In 1941 he graduated at the top of his class from art school and, right from the start, met with success. Guayasamin spent some months traveling throughout Latin America and he started his humanistic