The Spaniard Jorge Castillo is regarded an important representative of second generation Surrealism.
Jorge Castillo, whose family emigrated to Argentina in 1934, studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Buenos Aires for a short time only - the trained design draftsman preferred to approach art as an autodidact. Contact with the Argentinean artists Raquel Forner, who had established an expressive Surrealism, had decisive impact on his style. A little later he made important surreal-figurative works that show his mastery in subtle coloring. Jorge Castillo worked in painting, India ink drawing, gouache and also in print art. He also created acknowledged cycles of etchings.
The documenta artist Jorge Castillo has been well-known all around the world since the 1960s, in 1964 and in 1968 he participated in the Biennials in São Paulo and Venice. A large travelling exhibition showed the oeuvre of Jorge Castillo in the Museum Bochum in 1991.