Epifanio “Fano” Irizarry Jusino (7 April 1915 - 3 November 2001) was a Puerto Rican oil canvas

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, draftsman, and art

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

from

Ponce, Puerto Rico Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government. Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...

. He exposed Costumbrismo practices of his native

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, including bomba and plena dances, cockfighting and

carnivals Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

. During his professional lifetime, he exhibited in Puerto Rico, the United States as well as Europe, some of which were

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, and he was the winner of various prestigious awards.

Early years

Epifanio “Fano” Irizarry was born on 7 April 1915 on Calle Petardo in Clausells sector in Ponce. His parents were Ramón Irizarry, a cobbler, and Epifania Jusino, a homemaker. Since very young he showed an affinity for the arts and was encouraged to excel in painting by his father. He began his art studies with Inés Toro, and later was a student of Horacio Castaing,

Librado Net Librado Net Pérez (1895-1964) was a Puerto Rican musician, educator and painter from Ponce, Puerto Rico. He was the first director of the Escuela Libre de Música de Ponce, considered the best of Puerto Rico's free Music Schools at the time. ...

and

Miguel Pou Miguel Pou Becerra (24 August 1880 – 6 May 1968) was a Puerto Rican oil canvas painter, draftsman, and art professor. Together with José Campeche and Francisco Oller, he has been called "one of Puerto Rico's greatest masters." He was an ...

. In 1934 he moved to New York City where he took on various forms of employment and in 1941 he entered the United States Armed Forces. During his enlisted years he studied perspective in Germany and art at the Freilassing Art Academy,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany, as well as at the Bavarian National Museum in

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. He also lived in Paris,

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, and

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, France as well as in

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Schooling and career work

In the 1950s he studied at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school at 215 West 57th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may stu ...

under Reginald Marsh and

Robert Brackman Robert Brackman (September 25, 1898 – July 16, 1980) was an American artist and teacher, best known for large figural works, portraits, and still lifes. Biography Robert Brackman was born on September 25, 1898, in Odessa, Russian Empire (no ...

. He returned to Puerto Rico, and joined Taller de Gráfica of the División de Educación de la Comunidad where he was an illustrator until 1963. Subsequently, he returned to Ponce where he dedicated his time to his paintings and to art education. Some of his most outstanding students were Rigoberto Lucca Irizarry (1951–) and Ramón Luis Román (1949–). "Irizarry was a genius in addition to a painter who with his art he memorialized into eternity the Puerto Rican Costumbrismo through themes like the bomba and plena dances, cockfighting and Paso Fino horses."

Style and characteristics

Art critics describe his stroke as broad, energetic, free style and expressive. They define his paintings as reflecting life and movement. With respect to his use of color some critics point out to the liveliness and multiplicity of his tones, while others stress his sobriety and monochromatic style. His ''Marinas y Veleros'' watercolors are a witness to the passion that Irizarry had for the sea and the shore. Wichie Torres stated that Irizarry was not only a lover of art but of opera music as well: "He loved to sing opera, and was good at it. So part of his daily ritual while painting was playing classical music and signing along in loud voice...Curiously, Irizarry never had a telephone. The reason was that he didn't want anyone interrupting him during his creative painting process."

Paintings

Irizarry's works are preserved at the Museo de Arte de Ponce,

Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico The Museum of Art of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico'', abbreviated MAPR) is an art museum in Santurce, a barrio of San Juan, Puerto Rico, with 18 exhibition halls. The museum is located in a historic building, formerly occup ...

Riverside Art Museum Riverside Art Museum is an art museum in the historic Mission Inn District of Riverside, California. The museum is a non-profit organization which focuses on addressing social issues and offers art classes as well as other events in order to in ...

in New York City, Instituto de Cultura de Madrid In Spain, and in private collections in Puerto Rico, United States, and Europe. Among his outstanding works are: * Baile de Bomba II (1951) * Veleros (1957) * Caras (1959) * Feria de Caballos (1959) * Baile de Bomba núm. 1 (1959) * Pescadores de Muelles (1964) * Flamboyan" (1972) * La Bomba (1972) * El Palo encebao (n.d.)

Honors and legacy

During his successful art career he received awards from the

Ateneo Puertorriqueño The Ateneo Puertorriqueño (Puerto Rican Athenaeum), is a cultural institution in Puerto Rico. Founded on April 30, 1876, it has been called Puerto Rico's oldest cultural institution, however, it is actually its third oldest overall and second c ...

and the

Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture ( es, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), or ICP, for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preser ...

as well as being the recipient of the National Academy Museum and School Award and the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Grant. The Ponce School of Fine Arts has an art gallery named after Irizarry. He is also honored at Ponce's Park of the Illustrious Ponce Citizens. Irizarry died on 3 November 2001 in his native Ponce, Puerto Rico.''Epifanio Irizarry.''
Artist Directory. Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 2016. Accessed 27 April 2016. He was 87 years old.

Notes

References

*''Introducción a la pintura puertorriqueña''. San Juan: Editorial Art, 1968. *''Pintores Contemporáneos de Puerto Rico''. San Juan: Ediciones Artísticas de Puerto Rico, ca. 1969. *Bloch, Peter. ''Painting and Sculpture of the Puerto Ricans''. New York: Plus Ultra Educational Publications, 1978. *Delgado, Osiris. "Artes Plásticas, Historia de la cultura puertorriqueña". ''La Gran Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico'', Tomo VIII. Madrid: Ediciones R, 1976. *''Hermandad de Artistas Gráficos de Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico Arte e Identidad''. San Juan, P.R.: Editorial de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, 1998. *''Los tesoros de la pintura puertorriqueña''. Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico. San Juan, P.R. 2000. *Traba, Marta. ''Propuesta polémica sobre arte puertorriqueño''. San Juan: Ediciones Cordillera, 1971. *Kaiden, Nina; Soto, Pedro Juan; Vladimir, Andrew. ''Puerto Rico: La Nueva Vida''. New York: Renaissance Editions, 1966.

Newspapers

*“22 Boricuas exhibirán en Filadelfia”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 26 September 1955. *“Artistas exponen sus cuadros en el Ateneo”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 18 August 1950. *“Casa del Arte abre exposición de pinturas y dibujos del pintor puertorriqueño Epifanio Irizarry”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 8 January 1965. *“Colección de arte para el pueblo”. ''La Perla del Sur'' (Ponce, PR), 19 February 1997. *“Dan el laudo en certamen de pintura”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 18 May 1955. *“El Instituto de Cultura inicia hoy exposición obras de Epifanio Irizarry”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 14 June 1963. *“Elogian Oleos Expuso Boricua en Galería NY”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 26 May 1958. *“En el Ateneo, Entregan Hoy Premios Certámenes de Navidad”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 14 December 1957. *“En Galería del Ateneo expone Epifanio Irizarry”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 29 February 1964. *“En UPR, Epifanio Irizarry, Ofrecerá exhibición de pinturas”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 12 January 1959. *“Epifanio Irizarry es Promesa Entre Alumnos de Miguel Pou”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 12 September 1951. *“Epifanio Irizarry gana 2do premio concurso pintura y grabado 1956 con sed auspiciado por Ateneo Puertorriqueño”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 13 December 1956. *“Epifanio Irizarry monta exposición en Museo UPR”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 28 December 1963. *“Epifanio Irizarry, pintor de PR”. ''La Prensa'' (Nueva York, NY), 11 May 1958. *“Epifanio Irizarry”. ''El Día'' (San Juan, PR), 22 August 1957. *“Exponen obras del pintor Epifanio Irizarry”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 14 June 1967. *“Exposición de pinturas de Epifanio Irizarry”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 6 July 1963. *“Inauguran Exposición colectiva de Pintura Puertorriqueña”. El Mundo (San Juan, PR), 12 April 1957. *“Inauguran Exposición de Arte”, El Mundo(San Juan, PR), 26 January 1966. *“Pintor ponceño estudiará en EU, Es promesa entre alumnos de Miguel Pou, Asistirá a la Liga de Arte y luego irá a Italia”. El Mundo (San Juan, PR), 13 September 1950. *“Premian cuadros en Instituto”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 11 February 1959. *Ayoroa Santaliz, José Enrique. “Galería de Arte de Epifanio Irizarry”. ''El Debate'', 14 February 1964. *Bertoli Rigel, Juan. “Hablando con el pintor Epifanio Irizarry”. ''El Día'' (San Juan, PR), 31 August 1957. *Cabanillas, Iris. “Abren hoy exposición Epifanio Irizarry con 60 óleos, 23 dibujos y 6 grabado”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 20 February 1959. *Cabrera, Alba Raquel. “Hasta el 30. Obras de Epifanio Irizarry siguen expuestas en el Ateneo”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 25 March 1964. *Cancel Hernández, F. “Oleos y Acuarelas, Pintor Epifanio Irizarry Inaugura Exposición Hoy”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 5 May 1956. *Coates, Robert. “The Art Galleries”. ''The New Yorker'' (New York, NY), 26 January 1957, p. 81. *Meyners, Benjamin. “Inauguran Exposición de Pintores en la Isla”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 9 January 1957. *Rosa. S. “Instalación de murales en fábrica CFI que dirige Carlos M. Passalacqua”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 11 August 1954. *Skerrett, Lillian. “Oleos, Acuarelas, Dibujos Pintor Epifanio Irizarry monta exposición en SJ”, ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 15 January 1965. *Soltero, N. “Pintor boricua monta en NY una exposición”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 6 May 1958. *Varela, Luis. “Fallece pintor Epifanio Irizarry”. ''El Nuevo Día'' (San Juan, PR), 4 November 2001. *Vidal Armstrong, Mariano. “Epifanio Irizarry el pintor ponceño de viaje por Méjico”. ''El Día'' (Ponce, PR), 1 December 1960. *Vientos Gastón, Nilita. “Indice Cultural”. ''El Mundo'' (San Juan, PR), 9 February 1957.

External links

Interview with Irizarry (1993)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irizarry, Epifanio 1915 births 2001 deaths Puerto Rican painters Painters from Ponce Art Students League of New York alumni