SURREALIST IVÁN TOVAR RETURNS TO VENICE HALF A CENTURY LATER
The Iván Tovar Foundation presents Le Retour, a collateral event of the 61st Venice Biennale that repositions the Dominican artist within the global history of Surrealism.
The Iván Tovar Foundation presents Iván Tovar: Le Retour, a collateral event of the 61st Venice Biennale, curated by Christian Viveros-Fauné. On view since May 9 at the historic Ex Istituto Idrografico at the Museo Storico Navale, the exhibition marks the first presentation of Tovar's work in Venice since 1972.
Iván Tovar (1942–2020) built a trajectory that moves across the Caribbean and Europe: formative years in the Dominican Republic, two decades working in Paris, and an eventual return home. Le Retour places that transatlantic arc at the center of the global history of Surrealism, in the context of the centenary of André Breton's "Surrealist Manifesto," which museums across Europe, Latin America, and the United States have marked with expanded retellings of the movement.
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Iván Tovar, La Chaise Adulte, (The Adult Chair),1969, oil on canvas, 90 x 71 cm. Juan Manuel Portela Bisonó Collection, © Photo Courtesy Fundación Iván Tovar.
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Iván Tovar, Le Remord, (Remorse), 2012, oil on canvas, 132 x 196 cm. Tovar Castillo Family Collection, © Photo Courtesy Fundación Iván Tovar
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Installation view. Iván Tovar: Le Retour, 2026, Ex Istituto Idrografico at the Museo Storico Navale
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Installation view. Iván Tovar: Le Retour, 2026, Ex Istituto Idrografico at the Museo Storico Navale
"Iván Tovar: Le Retour marks both an artist's long-overdue emergence on the global stage and a new chapter in our understanding of Surrealism," said curator Viveros-Fauné. "Tovar's work takes Surrealism as a point of departure, working to articulate global ideas, symbols, and visual phenomena anew, advancing ways of seeing that elevate a cultural position long considered peripheral."
The exhibition also aligns with the thematic axis of the 61st edition, In Minor Keys, conceived by Koyo Kouoh, which proposes revisiting underacknowledged histories to project possible futures. In that same spirit, the Foundation and the Dominican Postal Institute (INPOSDOM) recently issued a commemorative postage stamp celebrating both the Surrealism centenary and Tovar's legacy.
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Ivan Tovar portrait
In 2026, Turner Press will publish a monographic catalogue edited by Omar-Pascual Castillo, with essays by Suset Sánchez Sánchez (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía), Iván de la Nuez, and Viveros-Fauné himself.
Iván Tovar: Le Retour is on view through November 22, 2026, at the Ex Istituto Idrografico, Museo Storico Navale, Venice, Italy.
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