 Photograph by Ariel Zuniga |
Francisco Zuniga | |
| Birth Date: December 27, 1912 |
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| Death Date: August 9, 1998 Artist Gallery |
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| “My inclination is toward a vital experience, a curiosity concerning the nature of life.”
Born in Costa Rica in 1912, Francisco Zuniga was exposed to art at a very young age, because his father was a sculptor of religious statues. From 1928 to 1934 he was his father’s assistant in the workshop, and he also began receiving art lessons in drawing and painting.
Zuniga developed rapidly into one of Costa Rica’s main artists. He belonged to a generation of creators who published an album of xylographs in 1934. Soon after this publication, events occurred that propelled him to move out of the country to Mexico. In 1947, Zuniga married Elena Laborde from Mexico, with whom he had three children.
Early influences include modern European masters and pre-Hispanic art; but the inspiration for his artwork stems from the endurance of Mexicans and the human spirit and figures of women he thought of as earth mothers.
He lived in his adopted country until his death in 1998. Zuniga is considered one of the most prolific artists in Costa Rica and in Latin America even though he chose to spend the rest of his days in Mexico.
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