Juan Cárdenas, caricaturist and designer of the 5,000 and 20,000 banknotes in Colombia, died

The painter and caricaturist Juan Cárdenas (1939-2024) died this December 15 at the age of 85, leaving an invaluable legacy in design, caricature and painting in Colombia. Recognized for portraying political life in the 60s and for reflecting about his existence through self-portraits, Cárdenas also stood out as the designer of the $5,000 and $20,000 bills, issued after the robbery of the Banco de la República in 1994. Born in Popayán, Cárdenas emigrated to the United States at age 8, where his father took an editorial position. It was in this country where Cárdenas discovered his passion for art after visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. You may be interested: “If they wanted to overthrow a mayor, a president of the Republic is born”: Mayor of Bucaramanga, Jaime BeltránStudied drawing and painting at the Rhode Island School of Design and served in the US Army during the Vietnam War. He returned to Colombia in 1965, initially facing difficulties in entering the artistic field. His career took off as a cartoonist in La República, where in 1966 he published an illustrated criticism of the government of Guillermo León Valencia. Subsequently, he worked as a professor at the University of Los Andes between 1969 and 1972, and presented his first individual exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art of Bogotá in 1973. In 1974, his self-portrait at the National Painting Prize marked a milestone in his career. Read also: An investigation is opened against officials of the Ministry of the Environment for not delimiting the Santurbán wasteland. In 1994, after the theft of $24,072 million from the Bank of the Republic, Cárdenas was summoned to design a new family of banknotes. His proposal for the $5,000 bill, with the face of José Asunción Silva and a poem on the back, became an icon. Two years later, he designed the $20,000 bill, starring the scientist Julio Garavito Armero. For his outstanding career, in 2022 he received the Order of Boyacá, the highest recognition granted by the Government. Colombian. The Ministry of Culture regretted his death and highlighted his impact on the plastic and graphic arts. Finally, entities such as the Ministry of Culture of Colombia pointed out that Juan Cárdenas leaves a deep mark on the history of national art, remembered for his sharp gaze, its lucidity and its ability to capture the essence of Colombia.

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