Gilberto Hernández Ortega

Gilberto Hernández Ortega (1924–1978) was an artist from the Dominican Republic. He is considered a leading painter of his generation. He first studied art under Celeste Woss y Gil at her private academy. Afterwards, he studied engineering, before deciding to pursue painting. He then enrolled in the National School of Fine Arts, where he studied under Woss y Gil once again, as well as Josep Gausachs and George Hausdorf. Ortega was heavily influenced by Gausachs, with whom he maintained a close relationship with until Gausachs's death in 1959. He also worked alongside Jaime Colson and Clara Ledesma and was inspired by Cuban artists Wifredo Lam and Mario Carreño Morales.

In 1946, Ortega had his first solo exhibition, composed of 63 paintings and drawings. His first solo exhibition abroad was held in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1951. Other international shows included exhibitions in the United States, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, Israel and Taiwan. He was awarded in national Biennial art events in 1952, 1958 and 1974.

He was also an art teacher for many years, and became a professor at the National School of Fine Arts in 1946 and was named vice director in 1954. He opened a private art school in Santo Domingo in 1966. During his many years of teaching, Ortega significantly influenced various major Dominican artists, including Ada Balcácer, Iván Tovar, Ramón Oviedo and Elsa Nuñez.

While primarily a Surrealist, he experimented with Abstraction and Expressionism as well. Most of Ortega's paintings depict distorted human forms. Dark blues, violets, grays, greens, browns and black often predominate, while yellows, oranges and reds are used sporadically.