Francisco Zuniga Nude Bronze Sculpture 1962 With Provinance By Ariel Zuniga Of Zuniga Foundation

Francisco Zuniga Nude Bronze sculpture 1962 measures approximately 14” long x 7” d x 9”
tall. José Jesús Francisco Zúñiga Chavarría (December 27, 1912 – August 9, 1998) was
a Costa Rican-born Mexican artist, known both for his painting and his
sculpture. [2]  

Received letter of provenance for all 4 Zuniga Bronzes in this auction by Zuniga Foundation, Ariel Zuniga (Thank you for your kind and quick response) and all items are in the Catalogue Raison. See photos showing email, and a copy of this email will be provided upon purchase.

Journalist Fernando González Gortázar lists Zúñiga as one of the 100 most
notable Mexicans of the 20th century, [3]  while the Encyclopædia Britannica calls him
"perhaps the best sculptor" of the Mexican political modern style. [4] Zúñiga's painting and
sculpting work began receiving recognition in 1929. [6]  His first stone sculpture won
second prize at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes. In the following two years
continued to win top prizes at this event. This work made critics recommend him for

study abroad. [5]  He won first prize in a 1935 Latin American sculpture competition, the
Salón de Escultura en Costa Rica, for his stone sculpture La maternidad, [8]  but the work
caused controversy and the government rescinded its award. [5]  In the 1930s, he began
to research pre-Hispanic art and its importance to contemporary Latin American art, as
well as what was happening artistically in Mexico. In the 1940s, the New York Museum
of Modern Art acquired the sculpture Cabeza de niño totonaca and the Metropolitan
Museum of Art requested two of his drawings. He also helped to found the Sociedad
Mexicana de Escultores and received commissions in various parts of Mexico. Major
individual exhibitions during his career include the Bernard Lewin Gallery in Los
Angeles in 1965, a retrospective at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 1969 and various
exhibitions in Europe in the 1980s. [5]
In 1971, he received the Acquisition Prize at the 1971 Biennial of Open Air Sculpture of
Middelheim in Antwerp, Belgium. In 1975 twenty of his drawings with the Misrachi
Gallery obtained the silver medal at the International Book Exposition of Leipzig. In the
1980s, he was named an Academic of the Accademia delle Arte e del Lavoro in Parma,
Italy. In Mexico he won the Elías Sourasky Prize. [5]
In 1984 he won the first Kataro Takamura Prize of the Third Biennial of Sculpture in
Japan. Zúñiga created over thirty five public sculptures, such as the monument to
poet Ramón López Velarde in the city of Zacatecas and others dedicated to Mexican
heroes. In the 1940s he created two sculpture for Chapultepec Park, Muchachas
corriendo and Física nuclear. In 1984 he created a group of sculptures called Tres
generaciones for the city of Sendai, Japan. During his lifetime, these were considered
his most important works. Since then, they have become secondary to his other
sculpting. [5][6]
He stated that he preferred figurative art because he found the human figure to be “the
most important aspect of the world around (him).” He was also strongly influenced by
pre-Hispanic art, spending significant time sketching pieces in museums, along with
images of women in traditional markets, feeling that they represented maternity and
familial responsibility. [5]
Museums holding his works in their permanent collections include the San Diego
Museum of Art, [12]  the New Mexico Museum of Art, [13]  the Metropolitan Museum of Art and
the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City,
the Dallas Museum of Art, the Phoenix Art Museum, the Ponce Museum of Art in Puerto
Rico, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. [7]

All items sold are sold “As Is” and are in “As Is” condition/Final Sale.

14" x 7" x 9"

Fine Art, Sculpture

18%

Madeline Winn | (516) 315-3102 | madelinewi20@gmail.com

Pickup Details

Amityville, NY 11701

When to Pickup

Saturday, 7/20, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

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