Enrique Aguilar

My name is Enrique Aguilar Samayoa, I wanted to share the painting of my father Roberto Antonio Aguilar Minera, a fabulous artist and devout painter. For the past decade I have been searching and photographing his work. Due to a stroke my father had when he was 78 he commissioned me to finish some of his paintings, and also shared with me his ideas for future projects. I have been studying my father’s paintings and since we have similar style I am retouching a few of them. He was a man in love with color, beauty and nature. His body of work mainly include: still life, portraits, horses and lan...

My name is Enrique Aguilar Samayoa, I wanted to share the painting of my father Roberto Antonio Aguilar Minera, a fabulous artist and devout painter. For the past decade I have been searching and photographing his work. Due to a stroke my father had when he was 78 he commissioned me to finish some of his paintings, and also shared with me his ideas for future projects. I have been studying my father’s paintings and since we have similar style I am retouching a few of them. He was a man in love with color, beauty and nature. His body of work mainly include: still life, portraits, horses and landscapes. A few of his painting have the signature by both, father and son, others studies weren’t signed at all.

I invite you all to see the great works of Roberto.


Roberto Antonio Aguilar Minera (1913-1998) was born on the thirteenth day of june of 1913 in New York. The Aguilar family was originally from Quezaltenango, Guatemala, a very colorful Central American nation. The Aguilar’s were a big family and known for their artistic talents. Roberto was always attracted by art, specifically drawing and painting, he always showed excellent qualities for it. When he was only six, his entire family moved to San Francisco California, there Roberto was able to pursue art at the Art Institute of San Francisco.
In the late 40’s, Roberto returned to Central America in search for an original painting by Peter Paul Rubens—that his family claimed to have had in their possession. The painting was a mere copy and not the original. Roberto was very disappointed, however his trip was not in vain, some friends asked him if he could drive their new car and take it to El Salvador. Roberto found an opportunity to paint portraits of women of the high society and became a famous portrait painter where he made a name for himself. Roberto started the first advertisement billboard company in El Salvador; he did most on the paintings on huge canvases. One day he was commissioned to paint Concha Marina Samayoa, the women he would marry later. Due to family and business issues, Roberto stopped exhibiting his work and dedicated himself to his family and his new job. However he continued painting only for his family and friends.
Roberto was searching for the meaning of life; in his painting you can see part of his character, his pursuit of beauty and his genius.