Saúl Balagura

Saúl Balagura was born in Cali, Colombia, in 1943. Both his parents were Romanian Jews who fled the country during the pogroms against the Jews in Romania.[1] In his early ages, he discovered his passion for art and poetry. At age seventeen had his first solo exhibition. Throughout his life he moved in parallel universes of arts and sciences. The self-taught artist holds a M.D. from University of Valle, a Ph.D. in Psychology from Princeton University, and a Neurosurgery degree from Albert Einstein Medical Center. In 1994 he retired from the world of science and opened a studio, first in Tesuque, New Mexico and since 2006 in Houston, Texas. His expressionistic work is a direct result of the interaction of his background with artistic influences from artists as varied as Willem de Kooning, Eduardo Guayasamin, el Greco, Pablo Neruda and Gabriel García Márquez. Balagura also writes poems that go along with his paintings. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States.

In 2008, Holocaust Museum Houston presented his series about the Holocaust called In Search of Hope in downtown Houston, Texas.

• Holocaust Museum Houston