Ernesto Deira was born in Buenos Aires on July 28, 1928. His studies were oriented towards traditional careers and it was not until four years after graduating as a lawyer that he entered the world of painting, guided by none other than Leopoldo Presas and Leopoldo Torres Agüero. In 1958 he had his first individual exhibition at the Rubbers Gallery in Buenos Aires. A few years later, together with Luis Felipe Noé, Jorge de la Vega and Rómulo Macció, he formed the “New Figuration” group, exhibiting at the Peuser Gallery in 1961 and in the following years at the Museum of Fine Arts and also abroad. In 1964 he participates in the IV Guggenheim Intrenational Award and organizes exhibitions in Europe. Two years later he was invited as a professor at Cornell University (USA). In 1965 he received the Fulbright Scholarship and in 1967 he was awarded the Palanza Prize. Among others, he received in 1965 in the U.S.A. the prize of the First Salon of Young Artists of Latin America and the Palanza Prize in 1967.

He had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Rio de Janeiro, Brussels, Madrid, Paris, Chartres and Venice. In 1981 the Galleria Degli Uci included a Self-Portrait in its collection. In 1992 his work “Adam and Eve #2” (1963) was part of the Konex Exhibition 100 Masterpieces – 100 Argentine Painters (anthological exhibition of Argentine painting) at the MNBA in Buenos Aires. He died in Paris in July 1986. In the following years his work was exhibited both in Buenos Aires and in dierent cities of Latin America. His works are in important public collections: Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, USA; Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Córdoba, Argentina; Fundación Federico Jorge Klemm, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires, Argentina; Banco Ciudad, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Museo Municipal de Bellas Artes ̈Juan B. Castagnino ̈, Rosario, Argentina.