Fidias Elizondo
Monterrey, N.L., México
(1891 – 1979)
Painter and sculptor who collaborated with the Escuela de Pintura al Aire Libre (Open-Air Painting School) and was recognized as a member of the Mexican School of Sculpture. He is considered one of the most important innovators of 20th-century Mexican sculptural art. His legacy includes a series of works that blend neoclassical influences with a popular touch, and his impact extended through his teaching and the training of new generations of artists.
Fidias Elizondo was born on March 24, 1891, in Monterrey, Mexico. From a young age, he showed a great interest in art, carving designs into the stone blocks of his own home. As a teenager, he worked in Antonio Decanini's marble workshop. At 17, he moved to Mexico City to study at the Academy of San Carlos, where he was a student of Adrián Unzueta, Andrés Ríos, and Daniel del Valle. He studied alongside notable figures like Ignacio Asúnsulo, Clemente Islas Allende, Ramón Alba de la Canal, Fermín Revueltas, Jean Charlot, and Ernesto García Cabral.
In 1913, he traveled to Europe and lived in France during World War I, working in workshops for bomb launchers, automobiles, and airplanes for the war effort. He later lived in Barcelona and Argentina before returning to Mexico in 1921. He served as a professor of sculpture at the university and taught nude sculpture at the Academy of San Carlos from 1922 to 1925. He collaborated with painter Alfredo Ramos Martínez at the Escuela de Pintura al Aire Libre in Coyoacán and at the San Ildefonso Preparatory School until his retirement in 1954. He was also a member of the Circle of Sculptors of Mexico. In 1959, he ceased creating art entirely due to vision problems caused by cataracts.
Among his most recognized works are the "Sculpture of Christ of the Cerro del Cubilete" (1949), the series "Cuentos en Bajo Relieve" (Stories in Low Relief) (1976), and several sculptural heads that showcase his ability to capture the human essence.
He received awards and posthumous honors, such as the Carlos IV Medal awarded by the Academy of San Carlos the year of his death. His work was included in significant exhibitions such as "Homage to Painting and Sculpture" at the Government Palace of Monterrey in 1977, "A Hundred Years Through a Hundred Artists" at the Monterrey Museum in 2000, and in the "Pioneers" section of the exhibition *Arte Nuestro* at the Metropolitan Museum of Monterrey in 2005. His works are also part of important collections, including the Pinacoteca de Nuevo León and CONARTE.
Fidias Elizondo passed away on January 3, 1979, in Mexico City. His work remains a source of inspiration for artists and lovers of Mexican sculpture.