Pedro Figari was born in Montevideo, in the Rio de la Plata region of Uruguay. In 1921, at the age of 60, after a long and distinguished career as a lawyer, statesman, and writer, Figari dedicated himself entirely to painting. In search of a wider audience for his art, he moved to Buenos Aires in 1921 and Paris in 1925. His work received great acclaim in both cities. In 1934 he returned to Montevideo, where he lived for the remainder of his life.
Before becoming a full-time painter, Figari wrote extensively on art and aesthetics, publishing his three-volume study Arte, Estética, Ideal (Art, Aesthetic, Ideal) in 1912. Figari fully developed his artistic style in Uruguay before spending nearly ten years in Paris. There, he especially admired the works of the Post-Impressionist artists Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard, with whom he became friends. However, all of Figari’s paintings focus exclusively on life in the region of Rio de la Plata and on people of all socioeconomic backgrounds living in both the city and the countryside.
The subject of this painting is a bride and groom’s departure for their honeymoon. Figari shows a large group of Afro-Uruguayans gathered in the courtyard of a multifamily building, the kind that housed servants on large estates in Uruguay. At the very center of the painting, the bride, wearing a voluminous white gown, warmly embraces another woman. Others around the bride, including the groom in a top hat, bid their fond farewells. Several onlookers gesture enthusiastically. The festive crowd, including two women watching from a balcony, is dressed in its best. Though intimately set in the confines of a courtyard, the full moon in the sky connects this scene to the wider world.
The repetition of great sweeping arabesques throughout the painting, especially the shape formed by the bride’s long skirt, creates a visual rhythm that suggests lively movement. These curving lines, together with the bright colors and careful attention to the richly patterned clothing, emphasize the vigor of Afro-Uruguayan culture and the familial emotions of the wedding party. Figari’s brush-strokes, usually short and irregular, go in all directions, creating a rich surface texture that adds to the abundant expression of vitality in this work.
Figari was the first Uruguayan artist, and one of the first in Latin America, to celebrate the culture of Latin Americans of African descent. At the turn of the century, Montevideo had a small but strong Afro-Uruguayan community. Many of its oldest members and leaders were former slaves born in Africa. They helped the community preserve aspects of African culture, especially in the form of candombe music and dance—a subject Figari depicted in dozens of paintings. Unlike most Uruguayans, Figari had firsthand knowledge of Afro-Uruguayan culture. Perhaps this was because, as a lawyer, he often defended clients from lower socioeconomic classes, including blacks, and became familiar with Afro-Uruguayan celebrations and rites. Like many other Latin American intellectuals at the time, Figari was concerned that modernization was bringing rapid and debilitating changes. He believed that Uruguay could strengthen itself as a nation by acknowledging the virtues of marginalized groups within its borders.
