$125

Art Work - Untitled Artist - Carlos Hermosilla Alvarez In 20th Century history, the renowned Chilean printmaker and poet Carlos Hermosilla Alvarez (1905-1991) came to be revered in his homeland, but remained relatively unknown outside some academic circles in the United States. The reasons are many, but what grows stronger with the passage of time are Hermosilla Alvarez' images, which sought to right a wrong, and help free millions of oppressed Chileans from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. Hermosilla Alvarez was born in Cerro, Chile and the eldest of three boys from a middle income family. Unfortunately, his youth was spent in and out of hospitals, suffering numerous operations after contracting tuberculosis. It decalcified his bones and required a lot of recuperation. He vowed to become an artist despite losing and arm and a leg to the disease. He began to draw during this period, and eventually met and married his future wife, Maria Pinto, a nurse and sculptresss. As a result of President Franklin Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy cultural exchanges in the 1940s, Hermosilla Alvarez' work was first seen in the United States. Exhibitions of his work were held in the US, Finland, Germany, and France and the proceeds went to support the exile Chilean communities and the various domestic causes which he and his wife supported. He drew the working people and peasants of Chile. Hermosilla Álvarez made an unwavering lifelong commitment to social justice and democracy . He and his wife lived among the working people whom he portrayed with dignity and respect until his death in 1991.