Lot Essay
Son of a local religious sculptor, Zúñiga originally descends from the Spanish Baroque tradition of Western Art, and at an early age was acquainted with working with wood and stone. It is in the atelier of Guillermo Ruiz, in Mexico City, that he learned the technique of bronze-casting. From 1950 to 1960, he became a member of the Plastic Integration Group where together with architects and other artists such as O'Gorman and Siquieros, he collaborated for works in public spaces.
In the 1980s, he traveled to Europe and worked in France, Spain and Italy where he was nominated as an honorary member of L'Accademia Italia Dell'Arte del Lavoro in Parma, Italy. However, it was back in Mexico that Zúñiga found a different atmosphere in which to develop his ideas. As the artist himself has been quoted as saying, 'Ante las corrientes divergentes y la aparente contradicción de los estilos de arte de vanguardia de mi época juvenil, opté por un archaismo, por las proporciones primitivas, orientado por el reencuentro con las escultura prehispánica, y estimulado por un sentimiento afirmativo de nuestros orígenes mestizos'.(1) Because of the different art movements and the contraditions in the avant-gard style of his juvenile period, the artist chose a more archaic style, one based on primitive proportions merging prehispanic sculpture with native roots.
This bronze piece of a resting woman is the last of a series of six. It is characteristic of his work to have that rare vibration of surface as well as working handsomely in the round. Zúñiga is internationally considered the ultimate Mexican sculptor and is frequently honored at museums around the world.
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1. F. Zúñiga, Homenaje Nacional, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1994
In the 1980s, he traveled to Europe and worked in France, Spain and Italy where he was nominated as an honorary member of L'Accademia Italia Dell'Arte del Lavoro in Parma, Italy. However, it was back in Mexico that Zúñiga found a different atmosphere in which to develop his ideas. As the artist himself has been quoted as saying, 'Ante las corrientes divergentes y la aparente contradicción de los estilos de arte de vanguardia de mi época juvenil, opté por un archaismo, por las proporciones primitivas, orientado por el reencuentro con las escultura prehispánica, y estimulado por un sentimiento afirmativo de nuestros orígenes mestizos'.(1) Because of the different art movements and the contraditions in the avant-gard style of his juvenile period, the artist chose a more archaic style, one based on primitive proportions merging prehispanic sculpture with native roots.
This bronze piece of a resting woman is the last of a series of six. It is characteristic of his work to have that rare vibration of surface as well as working handsomely in the round. Zúñiga is internationally considered the ultimate Mexican sculptor and is frequently honored at museums around the world.
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1. F. Zúñiga, Homenaje Nacional, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1994