with
sheep in foreground Nóvoa Garcia was born in 1919, to a
Galician mother and
Uruguayan father. In 1938, he emigrated to Uruguay, where he met
Joaquín Torres-García. He spent his early years in Uruguay in
Montevideo, where he founded Apex, a culture-focused magazine, with
Carlos Maggi and other Uruguayan artists and
intellectuals. Artists like Joaquín Torres García,
Juan Carlos Onetti,
Juana de Ibarbourou,
Julio María Sanguinetti, and
Marta Canessa worked on the magazine and formed a close friendship with
Jorge Oteiza. In
Buenos Aires, where Nóvoa Garcia lived from 1948 to 1957, he became close friends with
Lucio Fontana, who greatly influenced his work. Nóvoa Garcia was heavily influenced by other Galicians exiled by the
Spanish Civil War such as
Rafael Dieste and
Luís Seoane. After 1957, he came to settle in Montevideo, where he would remain for eight years. In 1965, Nóvoa Garcia moved to
Paris at
Michel Tapié's suggestion. Tapié had been impressed by Nóvoa Garcia's giant mural at the
Estadio Luis Tróccoli in Montevideo. In Paris, Nóvoa Garcia impressed
Julio Cortázar, who wrote a story about his work, and
Orlando Pelayo. In 1974, Nóvoa Garcia had his first solo exposition at the
Edouard Loeb Gallery, which would remain his gallery for many years. == Works ==