The Colorful World of Pancho Fierro, Afro-Peruvian Painter
Exhibition
“Pancho” Fierro (Francisco Fierro Palas, Peruvian, 1807/09–1879), Holy Week Procession on the Calle de San Agustín, Lima (detail), 1830s, watercolor on paper, 44.5 × 475 cm, The Hispanic Society of America, New York (A1585)
Drawing from the Hispanic Society’s collection of more than 500 works by Pancho Fierro (1807/9–1879) and his school, this exhibition invites viewers to experience the racially, ethnically, and economically diverse life of nineteenth-century Lima.
Women known as tapadas who wore a distinctive veil revealing only one eye, a French music teacher on horseback, and a man selling pastries from a basket perched on his head are among the figures that parade through the streets of Lima in the vibrant paintings of Pancho Fierro. From the 1820s through the 1850s, Fierro recorded the people and events of his native Peru in bright watercolors that brought the culture of the newly independent nation to life for collectors across the Americas and as far away as Europe and Asia.
The highlight of this exhibition organized by the Hispanic Society Museum & Library is Fierro’s rarely-exhibited scroll depicting Lima’s Holy Week procession. At 15 ½ feet long, the scroll presents a proto-cinematic view of one of the city’s most exuberant cultural events. As an Afro-Hispanic artist, Fierro not only imbued his figures with a subtle humanity that transcended the cultural stereotypes prevalent at the time, but he also forged a successful career that exemplifies the emerging economic opportunities available to people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds in post-Independence Peru.
This exhibition is made possible by support from the Consulate General of Peru in New York and The Raul C. Castells Valle Foundation.