Marina Núñez del Prado

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Marina Núñez del Prado (October 17, 1910-1995) was a Bolivian sculptor.

Marina Núñez del Prado was one of the most widely acclaimed sculptors of Latin America. Her work is characterized by rolling curves and bulk and by the use of such spectacular materials as black granite, alabaster, basalt and white onyx, as well a different native Bolivian woods. Among her outstanding sculptures White Venus (1960), a stylized female body in white onyx, is among her most admired works. Another famous work is Mother and Child, sculpted in white onyx. She was inspired by Indian themes.

Marina Núñez del Prado was born in La Paz, Bolivia in October 17, 1910. From early on, Marina studied the plastic arts. She admired the work of Michaelangelo and that encouraged her to pursue a career as a sculptor. She studied at the Fine Arts Academy in La Paz where she graduated in 1930. Between 1931-38 she taught sculpture and artistic anatomy at the Academy. During that period, she won the post of chair of sculpture and artistic anatomy at the Academy, becoming the first woman to be appointed to that position.

In 1938 she left her post and traveled through Bolivia and Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, the United States, Europe, and Egypt. Between 1940-48 she worked and organized exhibitions of her work in the United States while on a scholarship. In 1946 Miners in Revolt, inspired by the miners in Bolivia's Potosí region, won a gold medal in a New York exhibition. In 1948 she returned to Bolivia, finally settling down in La Paz in 1958. By 1972 she moved to Peru where she lived with her husband, a Peruvian writer.

Along her successful career she met outstanding artists such as Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brâncuşi, poets Alfonsina Storni and Juana de Ibarbourou. She was also a friend of the Bolivian writer Franz Tamayo.

In 1984 the house-museum of the Núñez del Prado Foundation was officially inaugurated in La Paz in honor of Marina Núñez del Prado's parents.

Marina Núñez del Prado died in 1995. She left not only a great collection of works but also the example of perseverance and dedicated work that made her one of the most acclaimed sculptors of Latin America.

For additional information on Marina Núñez del Prado and to see samples of her work, please visit the Casa Museo Nuñez del Prado.

[edit] References

  • Thomas E. Weil, Bolivia: Chapter 8B. Other Arts., Countries of the World, 01-01-1991.
  • Robert J. Alexander, Robert B. Batchelder, Richard S. Thorn, John A. Crow, BOLIVIA,., Vol. 4, Colliers Encyclopedia CD-ROM, 02-28-1996.
  • Núñez del Prado, Marina. Eternidad en los Andes: Memorias de Marina Núñez del Prado. Santiago, Chile: Editor Lord Cochrane. 1973.)