Francisco Zúñiga was born in Costa Rica, 1912 and worked as an assistant in his father’s studio of religious sculpture in his home town. He belonged to a generation of creators who published an album of xylographs in 1934; some of the artists were: de la Cruz, Salazar Herrera, Amighetti, etc. He, like other artists, learned the xylograph technique on his own, with books as his only reference. Costa Rican creators were influenced by older European artists, such as Cézanne, Gaughin and Mattisse, but they also began exploring more radical terrain and incorporating primitivist and surrealist elements into their own work. He traveled to Mexico in 1936 where he painted with Manuel Rodríguez Lozano and studied stone carving at La Esmeralda in Mexico City. Between 1938 and 1970 he made numerous public monuments for the Mexican State. In 1972, he created his first lithograph, in which articulated the sensitivity and sensuality of human figure. He expressed the gift and celebration of life. Zúñiga’s poignant sculpture and drawings depict Mexico’s indigenous people, almost exclusively women. The women appear as strong and impassive as ancient goddesses. Zúñiga said: “my work reveals neither moralistic nor sociological tendencies, but produces in me more intense sensation of living”. Zúñiga reflected the love and respect for Mexican people and tradition. He worked and lived in Mexico until his death on August, 1998.
