Rafael RodrÃguez Padilla
Rafael Rodríguez Padilla (* January 23, 1890; † January 24, 1929 ) was a Guatemalan painter, printmaker and sculptor. He was co-founder in 1920 and first director of the Guatemalan Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes, from which emerged today named after him Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas " Rafael Rodríguez Padilla ".
Biography
Rodríguez learned in Guatemala sculpture under the Venezuelans Santiago González (1850-1909) and then went to Spain, where he was trained by Luis Muriel y López. Shortly after his return he painted his famous self-portrait. Rodríguez died in 1929 by suicide.
His well-known works include monuments to Lorenzo Montúfar y Rivera in the Avenida La Reforma (1923 ), Francisco Vela, José Milla y Vidaurre, Louis Pasteur, in collaboration with Cristóbal Azori the mausoleum of the Castillo family in the main cemetery of Guatemala City, a nude, and portraits of Picasso's familiar Jaime Sabartés (1923 ), Santiago González and a self-portrait (1915 ).