Cesar Rengifo and Armando Reverón were two artists that rocked the academic and artistic traditions of Venezuela. Although they didn't fight in the wars of independence, they are hailed as having revolutionised the way in which Venezuelan identity was portrayed in the art world (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
Arts student Emiliano from Caracas: "I wear Reverón with pride. It's of huge symbolical importance that the remains of Reverón and Rengifo will rest alongside Simón Bolivar and Gauicaipuro." (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
The remains of the two artists were laid to rest with military honours (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
An actor dressed as Armando Reverón performs in front of the National Pantheon (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
The act was headed by President Nicolas Maduro (centre) and Minister of Culture Freddy Ñáñez (right of Maduro).
"Each patriot that enters the National Pantheon is a cultural reference point in the sense that he isn't representing just himself, but rather is a symbol of social processes and organic subjectivities," said the minister. (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
Cultural events were held across the city in honour of the two artists, including music and poetry readings. (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
Of course painting could not be omitted from the day's commemorations. Female nudes were one of Reverón's favourite subjects. (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
"We are depicting Reverón through body paint. He was thin, bronzed by the sun, he always carried a belt of paintbrushes with him. That's how he walked through the streets". (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
"This place in the pantheon belongs to them for their historic and cultural legacy. They are part of the evolution of our country," Antonieta, employee in Venezuela's "Mission Culture". (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
Reverón was known as the "light of Venezuela" due to the extraordinary way in which he experimented with painting light and shadows. Here, a member of Mission Culture paints Reverón in a street in La Guaira where the artist lived. (Jonas Holldack/Venezuelanalysis)
Every May 10th Venezuela celebrates the National Day of the Artist in homage to Venezuelan painter, Armando Reverón, who was born on this date in 1889. This year was a particularly special commemoration, however, as the remains of Reverón and Communist painter and writer, César Rengifo, were transferred to the national Pantheon of Heroes in Caracas.
Both greats of the Venezuelan art world, Reverón broke with the elitist conventional art academy in favour of painting Venezuelan identity and reality, using local models and lanscapes, while poet, playwright and painter Rengifo made socially conscious theatre from unconventional spaces such as public quares, prisons and hospitals. His political beliefs led him to enlist with the International Brigades that fought against Franco's fascist army in Spain's civil war.
This Tuesday, the remains of both men were taken to the National Pantheon of Heroes, where they were ceremoniously laid to rest alongside Venezuelan independence figures such as Simón Bolivar, el Cacique Gauicaipuro and Juana Ramírez La Avanzadora.
