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Francisco Zúñiga Sculptures

Costa Rican, 1912-1998

Known as one of the most important Expressionist artists to emerge from Latin America, Francisco Zúñiga is remembered for his monumental sculptures, figurative paintings and prints, nude drawings and portraits of Central America’s rural indigenous women.

Born in San José, Costa Rica, in 1912, Zúñiga’s exposure to artistic sculpture began at the age of 13, when he worked with his father, Manuel Maria Zúñiga, carving religious figures for local churches. Spurred by a growing interest in art, Zúñiga attended San José’s School of Fine Arts, where he became influenced by classical, renaissance figurative art. After winning several local awards for his prodigious talent, Zúñiga left San José for Mexico City in 1936.

In Mexico City, he attended La Esmeralda, the painting and sculpture school of the National Institute of Fine Arts. There, Zúñiga studied under sculptor Oliverio Martinez and painter Manuel Rodriguez Lozano.

In 1938, Zúñiga joined the faculty at La Esmeralda, where he taught sculpture and painting until 1970. Meanwhile, during the early 1940s, Zúñiga’s works began to attract the attention of art critics in the United States as well as important collectors. In 1941, the Arts Club of Chicago included him as part of their “Thirteen Mexican Artists” group show. The following year, Alfred Barr, director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, purchased one of his stone sculptures for MoMA’s permanent collection. Then, in 1943, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired two of Zúñiga’s drawings. 

Throughout most of his career, Zúñiga limited his subject matter to indigenous peasant women. However, he experimented with working with a variety of materials for his sculptures — bronze, alabaster, plaster, marble and modeling clay — and sought new media to create his art. (He made his first lithograph at age 60.)

Zúñiga won countless accolades in his lifetime. He won international awards for 35 of his public sculptures along with other works, and in 1992, he won Mexico’s highest cultural award, the Premio Nacional de Calidad.

Even after his death in 1998, Zúñiga’s legacy lives on. His sculptures, drawings, paintings and prints are found in museums around the world, including MoMA and the Met in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., the Middleheim Museum in Antwerp, Belgium and the Open-Air Museum in Hakone, Japan.

On 1stDibs, discover a range of Francisco Zúñiga prints, drawings and paintings.

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Artist: Francisco Zúñiga
Francisco Zuniga Bronze Sculpture, 1965, "Juchiteca Sentada"
By Francisco Zúñiga
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Francisco Zuniga bronze sculpture. Seated female. Edition: 5. #467 in the Zuniga catalog raisonne. Titled: "Juchiteca Sentada". Measures: 8 7/8" H x 10 1/4" L x 10 5/8" W (not including the 1 ½" wood plinth). Signed Zuniga and numbered 111/V. Created 1965. A Letter of Authenticity issued by the Zuniga foundation (and son Ariel Zuniga...
Category

1960s Francisco Zúñiga Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Dos Mujeres Mayas (Two Mayan Women)
By Francisco Zúñiga
Located in San Francisco, CA
This artwork titled "Dos Mujeres Mayas (Two Mayan Women)") 1983 is an original Mixograph cast paper bas relief by Costa Rican/Mexican artist Francisco...
Category

Late 20th Century Realist Francisco Zúñiga Sculptures

Materials

Other Medium

Francisco Zuniga Bronze Sculpture, 1964, "Desnudo Acostada"
By Francisco Zúñiga
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Francisco Zuniga bronze sculpture, Nude Lying Down. Edition: 3. #377 in the Zuniga catalog raisonne. Titled: "Desnudo Acostado". Measures: 6 7/8" H x 18" L x 19" W not including the...
Category

1960s Francisco Zúñiga Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Francisco Zuniga Bronze Sculpture, 1964, Reclining Mother with Shawl
By Francisco Zúñiga
Located in Phoenix, AZ
Zuniga bronze, edition: 3. #472 catalog raisonne: "Madre Reclinada con Rebozo". Measures: 5 3/4" H x 12" L x 8" W not including the wood plinth. Signed Zuniga and dated 1964. "Letter of Authenticity", issued by the Zuniga foundation (and son Ariel Zuniga...
Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Francisco Zúñiga Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

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Previously Available Items
Untitled (Two Women)
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Located in Palm Desert, CA
Signed and dated on base Provenance: Private Collection, CA
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1980s Francisco Zúñiga Sculptures

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Francisco Zúñiga sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Francisco Zúñiga sculptures available for sale on 1stDibs. Not every interior allows for large Francisco Zúñiga sculptures, so small editions measuring 42 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Andrzej Szymczyk, Pierre Jules Mêne, and Christopher Slatoff. Francisco Zúñiga sculptures prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $6,500 and tops out at $6,500, while the average work can sell for $6,500.

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