Oswaldo Vigas

Oswaldo Vigas (Valencia, Carabobo, August 4, 1923 - Caracas, April 22, 2014) was a Venezuelan painter and muralist.

He was born in Valencia, Carabobo. He studied medicine at the Universidad de los Andes and culminated his career at the Universidad Central de Venezuela in Caracas. His work was carried out between France and Venezuela, it is an original synthesis of the cultural roots of Latin America and the latest artistic currents of modernity. His work includes painting, sculpture, prints, drawings, ceramics and tapestries. He has made over one hundred solo exhibitions and is represented in numerous public institutions and private collections around the world.

Vigas died on 22 April 2014 in Caracas, aged 90.

Oswaldo Vigas was born in Valencia, Venezuela in 1923.

Predominantly recognized as a self-taught painter, he also worked in architectural murals, sculptures, ceramics, prints and drawings. Vigas is one of Venezuela’s best-known painters and a seminal figure that validated the cultural heritage of the Americas, affirming the importance of revising his own Latin American roots along with a global perspective in the arts. From a very young age, Vigas had already begun showcasing his paintings and illustrations and had participated in several painting salons and exhibitions. He graduated from the School of Medicine in 1951, although he never practiced. He devoted himself exclusively to his artistic career for the rest of his life.

While studying, he continued painting and took several art classes at the Taller Libre de Artes, and attended the Escuela de Artes Plásticas Cristóbal Rojas, where he became acquainted with painters like Manuel Cabré and Pedro Ángel González, among others. His early paintings focus on the human figure – mostly a female figure – pre-announcing the theme that would remain a constant throughout his career: the witches. His works became quite gestural and he took an interest in pre-Columbian cultures and pottery. Progressively, he departed from conventional depictions as his line became visceral and concerned with pre-Columbian representation, which would mark a milestone in his works. In 1952 he received the National Visual Arts Award and had a major solo exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas. In 1952 he relocated to Paris, where he lived for twelve years and met Janine, his lifelong companion. He studied engraving and lithography at the École des Beaux-Arts and took open courses at the Sorbonne. While in Paris, he was commissioned to produce five mosaic murals that were to become part of the Universidad Central de Venezuela, declared a World Heritage Cultural Site by UNESCO in 2000, a great example of the total integration of art and architecture, conceived by Architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva que el artista realizó en París., with the participation of national and international artists such as Jean Arp, Alexander Calder, Wifredo Lam, Fernand Léger, Mateo Manaure, Alejandro Otero, Víctor Valera, and Victor Vasarely, among others. During most of the 1950s, his works shifted away from the human figure towards constructivism and abstraction. In 1953, he participated in the I São Paulo Biennial and in a group show at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, among other exhibitions. Between 1953 and 1958, the artist exhibited regularly in France and Venezuela. In 1954, he represented Venezuela at the XXVII Venice Biennale, and was part of the Painters of Venezuela traveling exhibition at the Pan-American Union, sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.

During the late 1950s to mid 1960s, while still living in France, Vigas was invited to participate at an important survey about Latin American art in which he was awarded first prize: the Gulf-Caribbean Art Exhibition, curated by Lee Malone at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This exhibition traveled later to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; The Munson-Williams Proctor Institute, Utica, The Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, and the Colorado Springs Fine Art Center. Also, he had exhibitions at the Slater Memorial Museum of Norwich, Connecticut and the University of Nebraska Art Gallery, and participated in the Contemporary Drawings from Latin America show at the Pan-American Union in Washington, D.C. He was included in another large survey exhibition, South American Art Today, curated by José Gómez Sicre at the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Well versed in anthropology and primitive cultures, influenced by a visit to Picasso in 1955, Vigas channeled his works of the 1950s into a search for an authentic language, combining gestural, geometric and figurative paintings that led him progressively to reveal his connection with early cultures, and for the notion of a personal identity marked by telluric, magical and personal imaginative resources found in his works from the 1960s onward.

In 1964 he moved back to Valencia, Venezuela, along with Janine, his French wife and life companion, and continued to exhibit his work thoroughly throughout the country. In 1967, his son Lorenzo was born, and in 1970, he relocated to Caracas.

The 1960s marked the artist’s informalist period; his thick black lines dissolved the figure into abstract volumes and shapes. Soon after his arrival in Venezuela, he was named Cultural Director of the Universidad de Los Andes. Without relinquishing his unstoppable work as an artist, he accepted an appointment as Artistic Director of the Instituto Nacional de Cultura y Bellas Artes (INCIBA), promoting the work of artists and exhibitions, as well as contributing to the creation of national Salons and awards to help artists from around the country. He remained in office until 1972.

From the mid 60’s onwards, Vigas work progressively shifted back from informalism to a new figurative phase, in which abstract shapes began to look like figures once again. In 1976, he was part of the group show Latin Excellence Contemporary Hispanic Art, Xerox Corporation Center, New York, along with Matta, Canogar, Orozco, and others. In the 1980s, he participated in the Chicago International Art Exhibition, Navy Pier, Chicago; Venezuelan Art Today, 350 Years, traveling to Boston, Washington and New York; 30 artistas andinos latinoamericanos, at the Pittsburgh Museum, and The Latin American Graphic Arts Biennial, at the Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art in New York. Also during the 1980s, Vigas produced a series of tapestries and ceramic works, and his first bronze-cast sculptures.

In 1990, the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber organized a major retrospective of his works, showcasing not only paintings and sculptures but also tapestries, ceramics and jewelry. Lagoven, the oil company, produced a documentary film about his work. In 1992 the city of Monte Carlo honored him with the Prince Rainier Grand Prize, and the Monnaie de Paris, organized a large retrospective, Oswaldo Vigas, from 1952 to 1993, showcasing one hundred and thirty two works comprising paintings, ceramics and sculptures. During his later years, Vigas continued to work and exhibit worldwide, gaining further international recognition.

He received a Doctor Honoris Causa degree from the Universidad de Los Andes in 1999, and from the Universidad Nororiental Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho, in Barcelona, Venezuela, in 2012. He was invited to participate in the Un Coeur, un monde group show that traveled through France, the United States, Vietnam, Australia, Brazil and Japan. He was also invited to exhibit at The Latin American & Caribbean Contemporary Art Today survey at the Miura Museum of Art, Tokyo. Oswaldo Vigas was one of the most prominent and prolific artists of his generation in Venezuela. In 2008, he was designated Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de France.

Vigas received the International Association of Art Critics Award twice, in 2008 and 2014; in 2004, he was the recipient of the Latin Union Award in Washington, DC. His last solo shows Oswaldo Vigas: Transfigurations at Dillon Gallery in New York, and Vigas Constructivist: 1953-1957 (2013) and the posthumous exhibition Vigas Informalist, Paris 1959-1964 (November 2014-February 2015) at Ascaso Gallery in Miami, paved the way for a second dissemination of his work in the United States. With hundreds of solo and group exhibitions, Vigas was indeed one of Venezuela’s most relevant artists, whose works derived from the consolidation of art in the modernist age, marking a pivotal path for understanding contemporary art from Latin America.

As described in his own words: “I was never rigorously abstract or rigorously figurative. I’ve really tried to be rigorously Oswaldo Vigas”.

Vigas died in Caracas in 2014 at age 90. His wife Janine and his son Lorenzo (director, screenwriter and film producer) survive him.

The Fundación Oswaldo Vigas was created to continue to expand his legacy worldwide. A major anthological exhibition is traveling throughout the Americas. The first installment of Oswaldo Vigas Anthological: 1943- 2013 was held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lima, Peru; the show then traveled to the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago de Chile early this year, and it will open in Bogotá in July 2015. Its confirmed itinerary includes São Paulo, Mexico DF, and (TBA) other cities in the US. This traveling exhibition, curated by Bélgica Rodríguez, covers a large selection of Vigas’ most outstanding works, including 70 paintings and 5 sculptures, and it will travel around the globe over the next three years.

2016: Oswaldo Vigas Antológica 1943 - 2013. Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo (MAC-USP), São Paulo, Brazil (April - July)

2015: Oswaldo Vigas. Antológica 1943 – 2013. Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago de Chile, Chile (January – March)

Donación Oswaldo Vigas. Musée d'Angers, Angers, France (January – April)

2014: Oswaldo Vigas: transfigurations, Dillon Gallery, Nueva York (March-April)

Homenaje a Oswaldo Vigas, Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas (May – August)

Oswaldo Vigas. Antológica 1943 – 2013. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Lima, Peru (October – December)

Vigas Informalista, Paris 1959-1964, Ascaso Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA (November 2014 – February 2015)

2013: Vigas constructivista 1953-1957, Galería de Arte Ascaso, Caracas

Vigas en blanco y negro, Residencia de Francia, Caracas.

2012: Vigas constructivista 153-1957, Ascaso Gallery, Miami, Florida, USA

El dibujo en la obra de Oswaldo Vigas, 1940-2012 (retrospective exhibition that included 100 works), Gabinete del Dibujo y la Estampa de Valencia, Venezuela.

Feria Iberoamericana de Arte de Caracas, FIA 2012, with Galería de Arte Ascaso, Galería Medicci and 700 Arte of Maracaibo.

Exposición de arte iberoamericano, Madrid, Spain, to mark of the celebration of the two hundred years of the establishment of the Supreme Court.

2011: Oswaldo Vigas. Mérida, Paris, Caracas. Peintures (retrospective exhibition that included 170 works), Centre d´Art Villa Tamaris, La Seyne-sur-mer, France.

Feria Iberoamericana de Arte de Caracas, FIA 2011, with Galería de Arte Ascaso and Galería Medicci

2010: Oswaldo Vigas. De brujas a curanderas, Parque Fernando Peñalver, Valencia (May-August), Carabobo, Venezuela

2009: Mujeres, mujeres y mujeres, Alianza Francesa based in La Castellana, Caracas, Venezuela (March-April)

Oswaldo Vigas en InterValores, InterValores, Chacao, Caracas, Venezuela (June-July)

Oswaldo Vigas. Dibujos, Galería Punto de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela (November-December)

2008: Oswaldo Vigas en Paris, Galería de Arte Ascaso, Caracas, Venezuela (June-August)

2007: Oswaldo Vigas: pasión por la creación, Galería Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF), Caracas, Venezuela (March)

Tierra y fuego, Fundación Banco Provincial, Caracas, Venezuela (October-December)

2006: Oswaldo Vigas: criaturas del asombro, Galería Medicci, Caracas, Venezuela (May), as part of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the gallery.

2005: Oswaldo Vigas: sacro y mundano, Galería 700 Arte, Maracaibo, Venezuela (March)

Oswaldo Vigas: grabados recientes, Alianza Francesa, Caracas, Venezuela (June)

Oswaldo Vigas: sortilèges des tropiques, Museo Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France (June-November)

2004: Ideografías de Paris, 1952-1957, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela (May)

2003: Oswaldo Vigas, recuerdos del presente, Galería de Arte Ascaso, Caracas, Venezuela (October-February 2004)

2002: Ideografías de Paris, 1952-1957, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber, Caracas, Venezuela (March) Oswaldo Vigas, Tenji Gallery, Tokio, Japan (October)

2001: Ficción de mediodía, Galería de Arte Ascaso, Valencia, Venezuela (November-December)

2000: Pájaros de la paz y otros recuerdos, Galería 700 Arte, Maracaibo, Venezuela (May)

1998: Oswaldo Vigas, painting and sculpture, The Aldo Castillo Gallery, Chicago, USA (may-June)

1997: Vigas en Maracaibo, Galería 700 Arte, Maracaibo, Venezuela (May)

Oswaldo Vigas. Obras clave de1952 a 1997, Comandancia General de la Aviación, Caracas, Venezuela (May-June), tribute of the Venezuelan Air Force to Oswaldo Vigas

1996: Comadres, equilibristas, peleles y otros engendros, Galería de Arte Ascaso, Valencia, Venezuela (May-June)

Oswaldo Vigas, un hombre americano, Casa de Las Américas, La Habana, Cuba (November-December)

1995: Oswaldo Vigas. Mutants, pélélés, contorsionnistes et autres zigotos, Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux, L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France (June-July)

Oswaldo Vigas. La obra reciente, Grupo Li-Centro de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela (November-December)

1994: Oswaldo Vigas, obras inéditas, Corinne Timsit International Galeries INC, Paris, France (May-July)

Découvertes-redécouvertes 94, as part of Saint-Germain des Beaux Arts

1993: Vigas, de 1952 a 1993, Museo La Monnaie de Paris, France (September-October)

Oswaldo Vigas, la obra reciente, Grupo Li-Centro de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela (November-December)

1990: Retrospectiva Vigas: lo figurativo y lo telúrico, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Caracas Sofía Imber, Caracas, Venezuela (October-November)

1989: Ceremoniales, Centro Armitano Arte, Caracas, Venezuela (September-October)

1987: Paisajes andinos, Galería Los Espacios Cálidos, Ateneo de Caracas, Venezuela (June-July), with Marius Sznajderman

1981: Tapicería de Oswaldo Vigas, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela (November-January)

1979: Antológica Ritos elementales, dioses oscuros, Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas Venezuela (March) Oswaldo Vigas, Instituto de Arte Panameño, Panama (October)

1978: Oswaldo Vigas, una mitología americana, Galería de Arte El Callejón, Bogotá, Colombia (April) Signo y magia, Galería Durban, Caracas, Venezuela (October-November)

1977: Oswaldo Vigas, imagen de una identidad expresiva, Galería del Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Museo de Arte Italiano, Lima, Peru (July-August)

1966-1977 Ancestors, Galería Venezuela, Nueva York, USA (October-November)

1973: Retrospectiva Oswaldo Vigas: 1943-1973, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Bogotá, Colombia (May-June)

1970: Mitificaciones, Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela (June)

Tapicerías, Galería Antañona, Caracas, Venezuela (September)

1967: Venezuelan witches, Galería del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, Washington, DC, USA (May)

Vigas: pinturas 1965-1967, Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela (November)

1966: Retrospectiva Las brujas, árbol genealógico: 1941-1952, Galería 22, Caracas, Venezuela (October-November)

1964: Oswaldo Vigas: pinturas de los años 1960-1964, Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela (July-August)

Vigas: grabados, dibujos, gouaches, Ateneo de Caracas, Venezuela (November)

Oswaldo Vigas: retrospectiva: 1941-1964, Ateneo de Valencia, Valencia, Venezuela (December)

1963: Vigas, Galería Neufville, Paris, France (November)

1961: Vigas, peintures recéntes, Galerie La Roue, Paris, France (February-March)

1958: Oswaldo Vigas of Venezuela, Pan American Union, Washington, DC, USA (April-May)

Blancos y negros, Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela (September-October)

1957: Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Madrid, Spain (June)

Oswaldo Vigas: 1953-1957, Fundación Eugenio Mendoza, Caracas, Venezuela (October)

1956: Blanc et noir, Galería La Roue, Paris, France (March), large-format drawings were on display

1952: Retrospectiva Oswaldo Vigas: 1946-1952, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela (August-September)

1942: Ateneo de Valencia, Valencia, Venezuela (September), first painting exhibition.

2013: Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas: síntesis de las artes mayores seis décadas 1953-2013, Fundación BBVA Provincial

2011: IV Bienal de Esculturas, Galería de Arte Trazos, Caracas

2010: Galería de Arte Parque Negra Hipólita, Valencia, Venezuela

Honored Artist at the XV Salón Cabriales de Pintura

Chicago ARTEahora, Beach Convention Center Miami, Florida, USA

2009: Espacio real, Galería de Arte Ascaso, Caracas, Venezuela

Latin America Art, Sotheby’s, New York, USA

Nuestros artistas, Galería Medicci, Caracas, Venezuela

Honored Artist at the FIAAM, Maracaibo, Venezuela

Latin American Art, Christie’s, New York, USA

2008: Artistes de l’Atelier 3, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France

Art Nocturne Knokke, Cultuurcentrum Scharpoord, Knokke, Belgium

Mary Ann Manning Gallery, USA

Atelier 3 Transpositions. Tapisseries, 1972-2008, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France

2006: Le Musée de la Tapisserie a 20 ans, Musée Jean Lurçat et de la Tapisserie Contemporaine, Angers, France Documentaria.

30 años en el arte venezolano, Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela

Iberoamérica, University of Saint Francis, Chicago, USA

Aldo Castillo Gallery

2004: Imagen y figuración, Galería de Arte Ascaso, Caracas, Venezuela

Caracas à Paris, Alianza Francesa de Paris, to mark his thirty years in Venezuela

2003: La Megaexposición 1900-2000, Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela

Arte venezolano del siglo XX. Colección PDVSA, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo del Zulia, Maracaibo, Venezuela

2002: Geometría como vanguardia. Colección Banco Mercantil, Museo Alejandro Otero, Caracas, Venezuela

Contemporary Venezuelan Art, M.A. Doran Gallery, Tulsa, USA

Abstracción geométrica en Venezuela, Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela

The Latinamerican & Caribbean Art Today, Miura Museum of Art, Miura, Japan

Reacción y polémica en el arte venezolano, Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela

2001: I Salón de Arte Exxon Mobil de Venezuela, Museo Sacro de Caracas, Venezuela

2000: Un coeur, un monde (One Heart, one World), Maison de la Culture du Japon, Paris, France

1999: Four Latin American Masters, Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York, USA

Peinture et Sculpture d’Amérique Latine, Festival La Cita, Biarritz, France

Colección del Museo, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas

Etats d’un temps. Colección FDAC, Centre Culturel de Paris Sucy, France

1998: Obras de la colección del FDA, Maison du Citoyen, Fontenay-sous-bois, France

1997: El Taller Libre de Arte, 1948-1952, Museo Jacobo Borges, Caracas, Venezuela

Constructivist Art from Latin America, Sotheby’s, New York, USA

Tapisseries de l’Atelier 3, Auditorium de Lyon, France

1995: Salon de Mai, Espace Eiffel-Branly, Paris, France

XXIX Prix International d’Art Contemporain de Monte Carlo, special guest

El arte venezolano en los años 60. La década prodigiosa, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

Venezuela, de l’art populaire à l’art contemporain, Centre Culturel de Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, France

Ser escultor 95, 700 Arte, Maracaibo, Venezuela

1994: Adquisitions 1993, Fonds Départemental d’Art Contemporain (FDAC), Paris, France

Tapisseries d’aujourd’hui sur murs d’autrefois, Château des Adhémar, Montelimar, France

1992: From Torres-García to Soto, Art Museum of the Americas, OEA

XXVII Prix International d’Art Contemporain de Monte Carlo, Monaco

1990: LatinArtCa 90, La Galerie d’Art Lavalin, Montreal, Canada

Reencuentro, Premios Arturo Michelena 1943-1989 y Premios Andrés Pérez Mujica 1951-1989, Galería de Arte Ascaso, Valencia, Venezuela

Latin American drawings today, San Diego Museum of Art, California, USA

Masters of Latin American Art, Andrea Marquit Fine Arts, Boston, USA

1989: Arte de los países bolivarianos, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

1987: Galería de Arte de los Países No Alineados, Titograd, Yugoslavia

1981: Omaggio a Picasso, Palazzo Robellini, Citá di Erba, Italia

Pro-Posición 20, Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela

1980: El arte constructivo venezolano, Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela

Segunda Bienal Iberoamericana de Arte, Instituto Pedro Domecq, México DF

Chicago International Art Exhibition, Navy Pier-Chicago, USA

Indagación de la imagen, Galería de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela

1979: El arte figurativo en América Latina, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

1976: Latin Excellence, Contemporary Hispanic Art, Xerox Corporation Center, Rochester, New York, USA

1975: Panorama de la pintura venezolana, Casa de Las Américas, La Habana, Cuba

1974: Ocho artistas venezolanos, Galería Aele, Madrid, España

1973: World Print Competition, San Francisco, USA

1972: La Colección de Ewa Gartztecka, National Museum of Wroclaw, Poland

1970, 1971: Exposiciones del grupo Presencia 70, Caracas, Venezuela

1965: Venezolanische Malerei von Heute, Alemania, traveling exhibition of Venezuelan artists

1964: Casa de Las Américas, La Habana, Cuba

La pintura latinoamericana. Homenaje a la revolución argelina. Artistas de la Escuela de París, Museum of Argel, Argel

1963: Musée Maison de la Culture, Le Havre, France

Venezuela, del paisaje a la expresión plástica, Galerie Creuze, Paris

Donner à voir N.º 2, English Gallery - Bookstore, Paris, France

Bradley, Byun, Vigas, Galerie Le Gendre, Paris, France

La boîte et son contenu, Galerie Neufville, Paris, France

Adams Morgan Gallery, Washington, DC, USA

1962: XXXI Bienal de Venecia, Italia

Instituto Cultural Venezolano-Israelí, New York, USA

Venezuelan painter, Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, France

Museum of Rabat, Morocco

Pintores venezolanos de la Escuela de París, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France

L’Art latino-Américain à Paris, Galerie La Roue, Paris, France

Galerie Neufville, Paris, France

1961: Galerie Neufville, Paris, France

1960: Galerie La Roue, Paris, France

Pan American Union, Washington DC, USA

1959: Palacio de la Inquisición, Cartagena, Colombia

Arte latinoamericano contemporáneo, Pan American Union, Washington DC, USA

University of Nebraska Art Gallery, USA

Paintings and drawings from Latin America, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, Texas, USA

1958: Carnegie Internacional, Pittsburg, USA

1956: Musée de Picardie, Amiens, France

Permanence de l’Art, Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, Geneva, Switzerland

Picasso y el arte contemporáneo hispanoamericano, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, USA

Gulf Caribbean Art Exhibition, Galerie Craven, Paris, France

Homenaje a Paul Klee, Palacio de Bellas Artes, México DF

Bienal Internacional de Pintura y Grabado

1955: Bienal de São Paulo, Brasil

Carnegie International, Pittsburgh, USA

1954: Obras para la Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris

XXVII Bienal de Venecia, Italia, y Pan American Union, Washington DC, USA

1953: Bienal de São Paulo, Brasil

1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1961, 1963, 1978, 1980: Salon de Mai, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France

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