Alirio Palacios (December 7, 1938 – September 11, 2015) was a

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

ist known for his drawings, graphic designing, printmaking and sculpture. Horse figures were often motifs of his graphic art and sculpture, an obsession he developed during his long stay in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. Among other awards, Palacios won the

National Prize of Plastic Arts of Venezuela National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

in 1977. His work is on display in museums and public sites internationally, including the presidential Palace and the National Supreme Court in Caracas, the

Casa de Las Américas Casa de las Américas is an organization that was founded by the Cuban Government in April 1959, four months after the Cuban Revolution, for the purpose of developing and extending the socio-cultural relations with the countries of Latin America, ...

in Havana, and the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

where Palacio's portrait of the first Venezuelan President

José María Vargas José María Vargas Ponce (10 March 1786, in La Guaira – 13 April 1854, in New York City) was the president of Venezuela from 1835 to 1836. He was elected in the 1834 Venezuelan presidential election, the first free and fair elections in ...

is on permanent display.

Education and career

He was born near

Tucupita Tucupita () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of Delta Amacuro. Geography Delta Amacuro consists almost entirely of the swampy Orinoco River River delta, delta. Tucupita is hot and humid, and lies well into the delta on the Caño Mana ...

Delta Amacuro Delta Amacuro State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela, and is the location of the Orinoco Delta. The Paria Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean are found to the north, Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State is found to th ...

. As a child, Palacios began painting in his hometown by the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...

, depicting animal figures with chalk on blackboards from his mother's and aunt's school. At sixteen, he began studies at the Caracas School of Fine Arts (Venezuela), where he graduated in 1960. Palacios traveled to Europe representing his home country at the VII Youth Festival in Vienna, Austria (1960). He undertook further painting studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Rome, Italy (1961) and also studied water base engraving techniques at the University of Fine Arts in Beijing, China, where he was tutored by

Li Hua Li Hua () March 6, 1907 − May 5, 1994), was a Chinese woodcut artist and communist known for his participation in left-wing activities, was born in Panyu, Guangdong. Career He graduated from the Municipal Guangzhou Art School in 1926 and ...

and Li Co Yan, graduating in 1969. He was later an Intern at the Academy of Art in Berlin, Germany (1968–1970), and studied Printmaking at the University of Warsaw, Poland. From 1985 he resided in New York for 20 years, during which he pursued his art career and also acted as a cultural adviser to the Venezuelan Consulate. He then moved back to his home country, where he was widely revered. He authored many books on his own work, and illustrated several literature books by other authors. He acknowledged

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca ( , ; ; ; – 12 October 1492) was an Italian Renaissance painter, Italian painter, mathematician and List of geometers, geometer of the Early Renaissance, nowadays chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is charact ...

, the Italian Renaissance Master, as an influence on his work. Palacios died in Caracas of heart failure in 2015.

Awards

* 1957 Graphic Art Prize, Poster section, Escuela de Artes Plásticas y Applicadas, Caracas * 1959 Second Prize for Drawing, First National Exhibition of Drawaing and Engraving, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Central University of Venezuela, UCV *1960 Third Prize, I Salón de las Artes Applicadas, Casa de la Cultura, Maracay, Venezuela * 1961 ** Prize ''Henrique Otero Vizcarrondo'', XXII Salón ''Arturo Michelena'', Valencia, Venezuela ** Roma Prize, XXII Salón ''Arturo Michelena'' ** Prize ''Arturo Michelena'' (shared with Armando Pérez), XIX Salón ''Arturo Michelena'', Valencia, Venezuela * 1964 Second Prize, III Salón Aragua, Casa de la Cultura, Maracay, Venezuela * 1966 Roma Prize, XXVII Salón Oficial / Gold Medal, Graphic Art Biennial, Barranquilla, Colombia * 1967 ** Roma Prize, XXVIII Salón Oficial

Arturo Michelena Francisco Arturo Michelena Castillo (; 16 June 1863 – 29 July 1898) was a Venezuelan painter known for his historical and Genre art, genre scenes and portraits. Biography His father, Juan Antonio Michelena (1832-1918) was also a painte ...

, Valencia, Venezuela ** First Prize, V Salón Aragua, Casa de la Cultura, Maracay, Venezuela ** First Prize, IX Salón Nacional de Dibujo y Grabado, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, UCV * 1968 ** Prize ''Fundación Mendoza'', X Salón Nacional de Dibujo y Grabado, Facultad de Arquitectura y Urbanismo, UCV ** Prize ''Emil Friedman'', XXIX Salón ''Arturo Michelena'', Valencia, Venezuela * 1971 **Gold Medal, First Graphic Art Biennial de Cali, Colombia ** Acquisition Prize, I Salón Nacional de Jóvenes Artistas, Casa de la Cultura, Maracay ** Gold Medal, III International Graphic Art Biennial, Florencia, Italia * 1976 Job Fellowship, Salón Las Artes Plásticas en Venezuela, Fine Art Museum (MBA) * 1977 Venezuelan National Prize for Fine Arts, Caracas * 1980 First Prize, II ''Salón del Dibujo Actual en Venezuela, Fundarte'' * 1981 ** Acquisition Prize, I Biennial of Visual Arts, Fine Art Museum, Caracas ** Prize ''Andrés Pérez Mujica'', XXXIX Salón ''Arturo Michelena'', Valencia, Venezuela * 1984 ** International Prize ''Flavio de Carvalho'', I Biennial, Havana, Cuba ** Prize ''Ciudad de La Habana'', I Biennial, Havana, Cuba

Permanent collections

* Museum of Arts, Carabobo State, Venezuela * Casa de las Américas, Havana, Cuba * Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos, CELARG, Caracas * Contemporary Art Museum, Caracas * National Art Gallery, Caracas, Venezuela * ''Highway Museum for Peace'', binational highway connecting Cúcuta, in northeast Colombia, to San Antonio del Táchira, in southwest Venezuela *

Miraflores Palace The Miraflores Palace (Spanish: ''Palacio de Miraflores'') is the official dispatch and head office of the President of Venezuela. It is located on Urdaneta Avenue, Libertador Bolivarian Municipality in Caracas. History Construction and decor ...

, Jose Maria Vargas Portrait * Venezuelan Central Bank, Caracas A wider list of collections reported to show works by Alirio Palacios includes: Galería Municipal de Arte, Puerto La Cruz,

Central University of Venezuela Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

, Beijing University School of Arts,

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw () is a public university of visual arts and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in the Duchy of Warsaw in 18 ...

National Museum, Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw (, MNW) is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art (Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Art in ancient Greece, Greek, ...

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, Association of Plastic Arts in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, Centre Genevois de Gravure Contemporaine and Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (Geneva).

Art market

Many of Palacios's works have been successfully sold at auctions by

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

and

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Hotel des Ventes in Geneve, and Odalys in Caracas. The artist is listed in important reference sources such as The Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Art.

Bibliography

195? - Palacios A & Rabinowicz A : ''Miscellaneous Ephemeral Material'' 1957 - Subero E, Palacios A, Palacios L: ''Isla de Luz sobre el amor anclada'': poemas 1967 - Palacios L & Palacios A: ''Tarde a temprano, poemas'' 1968 - Urdaneta J: ''Momentos Hostiles: Diseño Gráfico'' 1979 - Palacios A: ''Fábulas'' 1984 - Palacios A: ''Manchas de Asombro'' Author: Alirio Palacios 1986 - Palacios A: ''New Works on Paper'' 1986 - Arraiz A & Palacios A: ''Memorias del Latifundio'' 1988 - Palacios A: Recent Work on Paper 1988 - Palacios A, Apparitions 1993 - ''Entre lo Real y sus Signos'' 1999 - Palacios A: Xilografías y Concretografías

References

External links

Alirio Palacios official websiteAlirio Palacios Video: Olivos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palacios, Alirio 1938 births 2015 deaths Contemporary painters Venezuelan painters Venezuelan artists People from Tucupita