100 YEARS OF A MODERN LEGACY: SZYSZLO AT MAC LIMA

The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Lima (MAC Lima) presents the exhibition Szyszlo. 100 Years to pay tribute to renowned Peruvian painter Fernando de Szyszlo (1925–2017) on the centenary of his birth. The exhibition brings together 10 works from the MAC Lima collection, created between 1946 and 2003, and includes paintings, a print, a sculpture, and a 16mm film. The show offers a journey through the artist’s aesthetic and technical explorations, as well as his ties to history, poetry, and national identity.

Szyszlo. 100 Years is MAC Lima’s homage to reaffirm the relevance of Szyszlo’s legacy and his role as a key figure in modern art in Peru and Latin America. It also commemorates the drive and vision he brought to the institution from its early days, as a founding member of the Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo (IAC), which marks its 70th anniversary in 2025.

Curated by Augusto Del Valle Cárdenas, the exhibition is made possible thanks to the Friends of MAC Program and joins a series of local cultural initiatives celebrating the painter’s centennial. Among them: the bibliographic exhibition Szyszlo Centenario and the talk 100 Years of Szyszlo, organized by the Inca Garcilaso Cultural Center, as well as the print exhibition Visiones del Hidalgo: Szyszlo frente al Quijote, hosted by the Pancho Fierro Municipal Art Gallery.

Fernando de Szyszlo Valdelomar (Lima, July 5, 1925 – Lima, October 9, 2017) is a central figure in modern Latin American art. He studied painting at what is now the Faculty of Art and Design of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and later continued his studies in Europe. A pioneer of abstract art in Peru, he connected his artistic language with the forms and colors of the Andean worldview. He was a regular at the Peña Pancho Fierro, where he engaged with scholars of Peruvian culture.

As a cultural agent and intellectual, he was a tireless force in the Peruvian and Latin American art scenes. In 1955, alongside Manuel Mujica Gallo, José María Arguedas, and other prominent figures, he co-founded the Instituto de Arte Contemporáneo (IAC). He taught at PUCP from 1956 to 1977 and was also a visiting professor and lecturer at major universities in the United States and across Latin America.

*Cover image: Fernando de Szyszlo. Starry night (1979). Acrylic and charcoal on paper. 97 x 126 cm. Courtesy MAC Lima.