Jorge de Oteiza Embil (Orio, Guipúzcoa, October 21, 1908 - San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, April 9, 2003) was a Spanish sculptor and poet.
He began his artistic activity in San Sebastián in the 1920s, in contact with the young people who were developing the artistic vanguard in his city.
In order to investigate the aesthetics of pre-Columbian sculpture, in 1934 he traveled to South America (Bolivia, Colombia, Argentina, Chile), where he stayed until 1948, avoiding the Spanish Civil War.
The first international recognition of the work of Jorge Oteiza took place in 1951, in the Italian city of Milan, in whose IX Triennial of Art he received the diploma of honor.
With the experimentation inherited from constructivism, Oteiza embarked on what he called his Experimental Purpose (1955), the title with which he presented himself at the São Paulo Biennial (1957), where he obtained the extraordinary prize for sculpture.
In 1958, Oteiza traveled from Irún to the Universal Exhibition in Brussels.