Adolfo Couve Rioseco (March 28, 1940 – March 11, 1998) was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an artist and writer. Couve was born in

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

, the first child of three. In his first years, he lived in

Llay-Llay Llay-Llay is a List of towns in Chile, town and Communes of Chile, commune in the San Felipe de Aconcagua Province of central Chile's Valparaíso Region. History The commune was established on 6 April 1875 during the government of President Fede ...

and then moved with his family to

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. He entered the Jesuit San Ignacio School, where he finished high school in 1958. Couve married Martita Carrasco with whom he had a daughter named Camila. The couple separated later. Adolfo Couve lived his last years accompanied by Carlos Ormeno. Couve began his art studies at the Escuela de Bellas Artes, where he was a pupil of Professor Augusto Eguiluz. He lived in

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on a fellowship from 1962 to 1963. He studied at the Ecole de Beaux Arts. Later on he moved to

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and studied at the Art's Student League. In this last city, he had his first exhibition in an uptown gallery. Back in Chile, Couve became professor of art at the

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile () is a public research university in Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the co ...

, where he taught until his death. He was also professor at the

Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (UC Chile; ) is a traditional private university based in Santiago, Chile. It is one of the thirteen Catholic universities existing in Chilean university system and one of the two pontifical unive ...

between 1974 and 1981. After 1971 Cuove took a major interest in literature and published a number of literary works which literary critics would later categorize as a distinctive form of "descriptive realism". After a decade of almost complete devotion to literature he rediscovered his painting which he used as a parallel tool in expressing his views on life and the world.Memoria Chilena - Portal de la Cultura Chilena Presentación Adolfo Cuove (1940 – 1998)
/ref> Although Couve gained considerable fame as a painter, his greatest achievements are thought to be his literary works, which include ten volumes of novels, novellas, and short stories. Couve killed himself on the morning of March 11, 1998, in his house in Cartagena.

Literary works

*''Alamiro'' (1965) *''En los desórdenes de junio'' (1974) *''El picadero'' (1974) *''Tren de cuerda'' (1976) *''La lección de pintura'' (1979) *''El pasaje'' (1989) *''La copia de yeso'' (1989) *''El cumpleaños del señor Balande'' (1991) *''El balneario'' (1993) *''La comedia del arte'' (1995) *''Cuarteto de infancia'' (1997) *''Cuando pienso en mi falta de cabeza (La segunda comedia)'' (1998).

References

1940 births 1998 suicides Writers from Valparaíso Artists from Valparaíso Chilean male writers Chilean people of French descent Suicides by hanging in Chile Chilean gay artists Chilean gay writers 20th-century Chilean painters Chilean male artists Chilean male painters 1998 deaths 20th-century Chilean LGBTQ people 20th-century Chilean male artists {{Chile-painter-stub