Biography
Born in Santiago, Humberto Pinochet is Chilean of origin and has lived in Quebec for more than thirty years. He grew up in a family of artists, which has greatly influenced him in the choice of his career as an artist. A friend of the family, renowned artist Arturo Pacheco Altamirano, inspires the young boy to consider a career in visual arts. Armed with this newfound confidence, and under his mother’s guidance and tutelage, Humberto dedicates himself to his art, and wins his first contest at the age of ten.
Humberto becomes a student at the Catholic University of Valparaiso, at the Faculty of Architecture and at the Graphic Design School. He is also a graduate from the Visual Art School of Laval University.
Humberto Pinochet devotes himself entirely to painting, his passion, and participates to different artistic and cultural events, as well as to more than 100 exhibits in Canada, South America, the United-States, Asia, Africa and Europe.
He has participated also for the last ten years, to more than forty painting symposiums across Quebec, Ontario and the Maritimes. He is the recipient of a great number of prizes and distinctions during his career, such as the title of Academician granted by the International Academy of Fine Arts of Quebec in November 2006, Academician Counsel in 2007, and Master of the Academy in 2009.
The Mazarine Academy of France appoints him member of honour for life, for his ability and his self-devotion to art. In December 2007 and December 2008, he is selected for the National Salon of Fine Art to exhibit as a representative of the Canadian delegation at the Carousel of the Louvre in Paris.
For Humberto Pinochet, traveling is a source of constant inspiration. His paintings carry a great thematic diversity, and are open windows on a world that the artist invites us to discover. The urban scenes, the landscapes and the seascapes are amongst his privileged themes
His artistic impression is marked with intense colors, and with exotic subjects full of light. His pictorial universe is in perpetual mutation. His artwork can be found in many Art Galleries, corporate and private collections mostly in France, and also across Canada and the United States.
This passionate and generous artist is featured in many press reports and television interviews.
Artist’s statement
Humberto Pinochet possesses an insatiable curiosity for the world that surrounds him. His first travels go back to his teenage years, and since then he has travelled the world in a way that allowed him to discover the unique history of each country, visiting it in a singular way so he would imbue himself with their essence: cross Europe on a train, discover France’s impressionists, admire the old cities of the Roman Empire as well as the Italian Renaissance, or simply discover the American Far West while riding a Harley Davidson.
For Humberto, it seems that there are no frontiers, and this is what he makes us live through his paintings, opening a window on a world filled with emotion, color and light.
Humberto’s great passion for his work was born when he was a child. He grew up on his father’s ranch in Linares, Chili, where the local artistic community converged on a regular basis. Her mother, an artist herself, encouraged and guided him throughout his exploration of painting. At nine, Humberto was already the proud owner of his own easel and paint tubes.
What makes Humberto’s work so irresistible is the empathy he has for everything and everyone around him. He considers himself blessed for having been surrounded by creative people, but he also remembers the heavy reality of war and exile, which has left its marks as much as all his discoveries did while travelling the world. Humberto imbues his paintings with his life experience, and offers us a world to discover, full of emotions and filled with his unique vision by presenting us with scenes that are a reflection of his heart and soul.
Humberto has made his home in Charlevoix, Quebec, and the proximity of the St-Lawrence River as well as the artists that orbit this region add to the inspiration that his studio provides him. This « thought laboratory », as he refers to his studio, is filled with numerous books, magazines, pictures and other souvenirs from past travels. Humberto isn’t impressed by the « syndrome of the white canvas, » but he rather welcomes this opportunity to go in quest of the « authentic creativity. »
Humberto’s open-mindedness brought him to explore multiple mediums, such as photography, which he still regularly practices, and sculpture. He always comes back to acrylic painting, however, because it allows him to explore luminosity. He also takes commissions, which for him represent another sort of challenge, one where he interprets a world according to someone else’s vision: another universe to explore.
C.V.
Honours, Prizes and Mentions (selected)
| 2021 | Grand Master, Fine Art, Académie des Beaux-Arts du Québec, AIBAQ |
| 2018 | Master, Fine Art, Académie des Beaux-Arts du Québec, AIBAQ |
| 2013 | Grant of Excellency and Finalist, 5th place, International of Miniature Art of Lévis, Ville de Lévis, Quebec |
| 2011 to 2013 | Artist of the Year, Académie internationale des Beaux-Arts de Québec, Laval, Québec |
| 2007 | President of Honour, « Symposium de peinture des Îles de la Madeleine », Québec |
| 2007 | President of Honour, Symposium de peinture « Les couleurs de Kamouraska », Québec |
Solo Exhibitions and Galleries (selected)
| 2019 to today | Galerie du Vieux St-Jean, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Québec |
| 2017 | Galerie le Harfang, Weedon, Québec |
| 2016, 2017 | Atelier Humberto Pinochet, Baie-St-Paul, Québec |
| 2011, 2015 | Inglewood Fine Arts, Calgary, Alberta |
| 2014 | Hôtel Tadoussac, Tadoussac, Québec |
| 2011 to 2013 | Café des artistes, Baie-St-Paul, Québec |
| 2010 | Festival de peinture de Mascouche, Québec |
| 2009 | Win Henstock Gallery, Oakville, Ontario |
| 2007 to 2009 | Bright’s Gallery, Collingwood, Ontario |
| 2009 | Galerie Vincent d’Indy, Boucherville, Québec |
| 2006, 2007 | Villa des arts Liliane Bruneaux, Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, Québec |
| 2004 | Galerie Artis, Boucherville, Québec |
International Exhibitions (selected)
| 2017 | Institute of Traditional Chinese Painting, Manjing, Chine |
| 2011 | Hôtel du département, Vannes, France |
| 2010 | International Festival of Painting, Monastir, Tunisie |
| 2010 | Musée de l’émigration Française au Canada, Tourouvre, France |
| 2010 | Autoworld Museum, Bruxelles, Belgique |
| 2010 | La Catalogne invite le Québec, Salon International d’arts plastiques, Sainte-Marie-la-Mer, France |
| 2010 | Biennale d’Arts Contemporains, Enclave des Papes (Valréas, Richerenches, Visan, Grillon), France |
| 2009 | AIDAC, Saint-Tropez, France |
| 2009 | SIAP, Béziers, France |
| 2009 | Ateliers 109, Cannes, France |
| 2009 | Parcours Art et Vin, Languedoc-Rousillon, France |
| 2009 | Espace culturel – Hôtel Boston, Zaragoza, Espagne |
| 2009 | Arradon, Port Blanc et Vannes, France |
| 2009 | 53e International Salon of Fine Arts, Béziers, France |
| 2008 | Exhibitions in six castles of France : Château de l’Engarran, de Capion, de Jonquières, Domaine de la Dourbie, Domaine de la Croix Belle et le Clos du Lucquier |
| 2008 | Salon des Beaux-Arts de St-Tropez, France |
| 2007 | Salon National des Beaux-Arts, Caroussel du Musée du Louvres, Paris, France |
| 1974 to 1977 | Varied exhibitions, Chili |
Group Exhibitions (selected)
| 2018 and 2019 | Centre culturel Paul-Médéric, Baie-St-Paul, Québec |
| 2018 | Atelier Humberto Pinochet, Baie-St-Paul, Québec |
| 2017 | Biennale international de miniatures de Lévis, Québec |
| 2009 | Galerie d’art Cristobal, Baie-St-Paul, Québec |
| 2009 | Centre d’art de Baie-St-Paul, Baie-St-Paul, Québec |
| 2007 | Festival « Paysages en peinture », Baie-St-Paul, Québec |
| 2005 to 2007 | Symposium des Grands Peintres, Chesterville, Québec |
| 2007 | Galerie Maistre, Trois-Rivières, Québec |
| 2006 | Symposium de peinture de Kamouraska, Québec |
| 2005, 2006 | Symposium de peinture des Îles de la Madeleine, Québec |
| 2005 | Symposium des Arts de Shawinigan, Québec |
| 2005 | Symposium international de peinture, Carnaval de Québec |
| 1978 to 2004 | Various exhibitions, Quebec |
Interviews and publications
| 2014 | Arabella Magazine, « Painting the Impossible » |
| 2013 | Babill’AAPARS, « Humberto Pinochet » |
Associations
- Member of the International Academy of Fine Arts of Quebec
