Wright Auction

Born in Havana, Julio Larraz is considered to be among the most influential figures in Latin American art. Larraz’s father was a political activist who owned and edited the Havana-based newspaper La Discusión, where his mother served as director. When he was just 16 years old, Larraz and his family sought asylum in the United States following Castro’s rise to power and subsequent abolishment of the free press. Larraz’s early experiences of political upheaval and exile led him to become a successful political cartoonist who published with the New York Times, Vogue, Rolling Stone, and many other outlets.

In 1971, Larraz received formal recognition for his work as a painter when he had his first solo exhibition at Washington D.C.’s Pyramid Gallery. His works are generally recognized as inventive hybrids that meld memories and impressions of childhood in Cuba with later autobiographical details culled from his life in the U.S. as well as his global travels. Blending influences not just in content but also in form, Larraz has taken inspiration from Surrealism—particularly Giorgio de Chirico—as well as early modern European artists and 17th-century Spanish painting. His method of working involves studies that he then incorporates into larger works. Reflecting on his practice of accumulating these sketches and studies, Larraz has noted, “They are like dreams, it’s like when you try to tell someone about a dream you had, and it becomes smoke before you finish the sentence.” In the 1980s, Larraz began to add sculpture to his repertoire and later would become a prolific watercolorist while traveling throughout Italy in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Today, Larraz lives and works in Miami, and his works are included in the collections of the Museo de Monterrey in Mexico, the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and the Museo de Arte Moderno in Bogota.