Alirio Palacios (December 7, 1938 – September 11, 2015) was a Venezuelanvisual artist 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. Among other awards, Palacios won the National Prize of Plastic Arts of Venezuela 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 in Havana, and the University of Edinburgh where Palacio's portrait of the first Venezuelan President José María Vargas is on permanent display.
Education and career
He was born near Tucupita, Delta Amacuro. As a child, Palacios began painting in his hometown by the Orinoco River, 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 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, 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
Many of Palacios's works have been successfully sold at auctions by Sotheby's and Christie's in New York City, 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
↑Turner, Jane (2000). Encyclopedia of Latin American & Caribbean art (1sted.). New York, NY: Grove - Oxford University Press. ISBN0195310756.
↑Palacios, Alirio; Rabinowicz, Sergio. Miscellaneous Ephemeral Material (OCLC 84670331ed.). OCLC84670331.
↑Subero, Efraín; Palacios, Alirio; Palacios, Lucila (1957). Isla de Luz sobre el amor anclada: poemas (OCLC 253899756ed.). Isla de Margarita Litogr. y Tipogr. Vargas in Caracas. OCLC253899756.
↑Palacios, Alirio; Kohler, Arnold; Loughery, Mary; Kent, John; Kent, Mary (1988). Recent Work on Paper (OCLC 27199046ed.). New York - Caracas: Little John-Smith Gallery / Galería Freites. OCLC692178822.
