Elements for an Angel No. 8 was part of the exhibition that David Manzur held in February and March 1961 at the Pan American Union in Washington, D.C. In a review published in 1962 on the occasion of the artist’s solo show at the Obelisk Gallery, in which he exhibited the same works as the previous year, critic Leslie Judd Ahlander remarked: “The dark depths are illuminated by torrential showers of light.” While the critic was referring to another one of Manzur’s pieces—namely, Tríptico para la muerte de un pájaro—this might be the best description of Elements for an Angel No. 8, a work dominated by light and color, where the juxtaposition of flat shapes, reminiscent of the wings of an angel, creates an evocative play of fluorescent transparencies and baroque effects of light and shadow. Despite the apparent allusion to the dripping technique of abstract expressionism and the lumps of opaque matter that are associated with informalism— particularly at the point where the wings unfurl—the most immediate influence is that of Alejandro Obregón, whose work marked various Colombian artists from the mid-1950s onward. Signs of Obregón’s influence appear in the echoes of synthetic cubism, the translucent veiling of deeply intertwined planes, the lyricism of the gestural stroke and colors, the constant play between light and shadow, and the presence of a horizon in the background. However, Elements for an Angel No. 8 is, without doubt, a very personal piece as it touches upon an earlier series that the artist dedicated to flowers. The wings of the angel, in fact, seem to be opening up like the petals of a flower. Nevertheless, Manzur’s most characteristic trait in this painting is the eurythmia transmitted by the composition. Another common feature in the work of the artist is the oneiric atmosphere that prevails in this painting and which is constantly present in his figurative works. David Manzur is a Colombian artist of Lebanese descent. He began working as a theater and film set designer and actor, but was destined to be a visual artist. He studied at the Escuela de Arte Claret in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Bogotá, and the Art Students League and the Pratt Institute, both in New York. He held his first exhibition in 1953, under an array of influences, including surrealism. Five years later, he painted a large-scale mural at the Teatro Arlequín in Bogotá and then received second prize for painting at the Eleventh Salón de Artistas Colombianos. His success and talent earned him sufficient prestige to teach courses on drawing, color, and fresco at the Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia. In 1961 he held an exhibition on the subject of flowers at the Luis Ángel Arango library in Bogotá. The works in that exhibition moved away from mimesis and, instead, echoed abstract impressionism, informalism, and an Obregonian style. Manzur’s work had already shown an “exportable” quality and language and, that same year, Gómez Sicre invited him to exhibit at the Pan American Union, boosting his career even further. Shortly afterward, he won two Guggenheim Fellowships (1961, 1962); exhibited at the Obelisk Gallery in Washington, D.C. (1962) and the Royal Athena Galleries in New York (1962); won first prize at the First Salón de Artistas Jóvenes de Bogotá (1964); and earned a fellowship from the Organization of American States (1964). Meanwhile, his subjects moved from flowers to marine abysses to sidereal spaces. At a time in which humanity was moving toward the technical conquest of space, Manzur’s interpretation of the moon was lyrical. He also worked on more experimental projects, but at the beginning of the 1970s, there was a profound return to order, leading him to rediscover a realistic drawing style that was in constant dialogue with tradition. From then, a plethora of subjects wove together refinement, estrangement, erotic ecstasy, and a voluptuous view of death.