“I feel the need to produce art that means something. And it means something when it affects and seduces us, when it speaks from within its own silence.” - Josè Basso. Josè Basso was born in Chile on 27 June 1949. He later graduated with a Fine Arts degree from the University of Chile. He became a professor of art at the same institution, while continuing to develop his skill as artist. He was granted a number of prestigious scholarships through the years, including one in Paris in 1981, Amigos del Arte in 1982, Fundacion Andes in 1991 and Fondart in 2001.Basso’s first professional recognition occurred when he won the Valparaiso International Biennial Exhibition Prize for Painting. In 1999, his work was selected by the Worldwide Millennium Painting exhibition in London. He has represented his country in numerous international exhibitions and his works are included in the collection of Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, as well as the National Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago, Chile. Basso has also been honored with a commission from Queen Sofia of Spain to create two paintings for the Zarzuela Palace in Madrid. Having fallen in love with his work while on a trip to Santiago, Jean Kennedy Smith, American diplomat, former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland, and sister of John F Kennedy, is also among Basso’s admirers. In 2007 he was commissioned to paint an important mural for the Office of Export Administration in Washington, D.C. And in 2011 he was honored with a retrospective of his work in Santiago's National Museum of Fine Arts. Basso’s work is included in a number of prestigious corporate, public and private collections worldwide.With his elegantly simplified forms and fine brushwork, complimented by his signature use of color, and masterful ability to capture light, Basso’s evocative, serenely beautiful creations, the perfect blend of realism and abstraction, are universal in their appeal.