Francisco González Gamarra

Garcilaso Inca de la Vega

Gift of the Chosen

Scenes from the Drama Ollantay

1914. Lima, Teófilo Castillo:

On the edition of his "Pen & Ink Drawings". Edit. Moral " The development attained by Gonzalez Gamarra can be well appreciated; the strength of his personality, capable of handling varied and complex themes, the swiftness of his eyes is able to synthesize groups, register details but above all, it is in his technique in his handling of the pen where the artist´s unique style is most apparent".

1922, New York, Perrinton Maxwell, in: "Arts & Decoration", N.Y. August 1922:

"His name is Francisco Gonzalez Gamarra and his work may be classified as pictoric art, the quality of which any North American or European painter would be justly proud. The surprising fact about Sr. Gamarra is his versatility. He is a painter, an engraver, an expert in water colors, pastellist, caricaturist, sculptor and composer. He was to all intents and purposes self-taught and his works are imbued with great originality. He had the sense to capture such aspects of life as he could see with his own eyes which were transmuted into a host of studies of great ethnological and artistic value representing the natives of his homeland. In later years, his detailed studies of different Peruvian types would constitute the only authentic record of these people..."

1927, Paris Raymond Cogniat, in: "Revue de L Amerique Latine," Paris January 1927:

"An important aspect of Sr. Francisco Gonzalez Gamarra is the variety of his tastes which leads him to take an interest in diverse subjects without losing his unquenchable thirst for knowledge and the desire to create. His discoveries and achievements are of undeniable value and one is conscious above all of being in the presence of a dilettante who is aware of all the different artistic trends and tendencies.

The water colors and caricatures by the artist prove that he is an established professional but certainly his most interesting work is a series of washes (etchings) reproducing Inca robes and above all numerous studies of decorative motifs taken from ceramics and textiles belonging to pre-Colombian civilizations. The author shows imagination, a notable feeling for the richness of color or, better said, the remarkable sumptuousness of the materials. Certain models can be likened to artifacts of the Egyptian civilization but at the same time possesses their own very special features - magnificent vestiges of a great area".

Countryside lunch

A young Indian

The Mayor of Santiago