The Colorful World of Pancho Fierro, Afro-Peruvian Painter

Curator Dr. Marcus Burke speaks on the exhibition "The Colorful World of Pancho Fierro, Afro-Peruvian Painter," on view at the Hispanic Society Museum & Library from January 23rd to April 10th, 2025. This exhibition presents works from the Hispanic Society’s permanent collection, which is the single largest repository of works by Pancho Fierro. In over fifty years of artistic production, Fierro worked in watercolor, painted murals, and made portraits in oil and pastel, not to mention undertaking commercial work such as billboards and shop signs. This period coincided with Peruvian independence and the opening of Lima to international commerce, mainly with England and France, which triggered a high demand for Fierro’s colorful depictions of Peruvian life.