Emma Reyes's 104th Birthday

Today’s Doodle celebrates Colombian artist, painter, storyteller, and writer Emma Reyes. On this day in 1919, Reyes was born in Bogotá, Colombia. 

Despite growing up facing poverty and neglect, Reyes achieved great success in her life. She lived with her sister, mother, and another young boy in a single room until her mother abandoned the family and five-year-old Emma Reyes. A convent took in the Reyes sisters, but life didn’t get easier — the girls were kept illiterate, and Reyes reported doing embroidery, tailoring, and laundry for 10 hours a day. After spending about 15 years here, she stole the keys to the convent door and escaped into the world.

She traveled and lived in many different places — Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Jerusalem, Washington, Rome, Paris — creating art as she explored the world. In the 1940s, she spent a lot of time in Paris and Buenos Aires, learning from painter André Lhote. Reyes started to gain attention in 1947 after participating in an international art contest in Argentina. She spent time in Mexico in the 1950s, studying with muralist Diego Rivera, and spent the ’60s between Israel and Italy. The painter eventually settled in France, where she was praised for her works depicting her culture and became known as “mama grande” to other Latin American artists. Her subject matter was intentionally simple, often featuring people, fruits, vegetables, flowers, and human-animal hybrids. 

Many people who knew Reyes told her she should write a book and tell the stories of her childhood. She claimed she couldn’t because it was hard to organize her thoughts, and she never received formal language education. Historian Germán Arciniegas found a solution by asking Reyes to write letters about her childhood to him. Between 1969 and 1997, Reyes wrote 23 letters that make up The Book of Emma Reyes. She didn’t want spelling and grammar mistakes in the memoir corrected because she was proud of them; every error was a reminder of the childhood she survived. Reyes herself edited the book, but it was published in 2012 after she passed away, so she didn’t get to see it become a worldwide success with glowing reviews.

Happy birthday Emma Reyes, thank you for sharing your stories and creations with the world.