LOS ANGELES, CA.- Jack Rutberg Fine Arts in Los Angeles is presenting a formidable exhibition of works by the major Mexican 20th century artist and sculptor Francisco Zuņiga (b. Costa Rica 1912 - d. Mexico 1998) through January 2008.

Born in Costa Rica in 1912, Francisco Zuņiga by the age of 13, was working in his father’s studio carving religious figures for local churches. Already inspired by the art of the Renaissance, Zuņiga in 1933 saw a large exhibition of German Expressionism that had a formative influence on him. Winning several national prizes between 1929 and 1935, he moved to Mexico in 1936. The following year he joined the faculty of “La Esmerelda” the prestigious Mexican School of Painting and Sculpture of the National Institute of Fine Arts, where he taught until 1970. Zuņiga’s impact as a sculptor and painter was immediately evident in exhibitions in Mexico beginning in 1936.

Zuņiga’s first exposure in the U.S. was his inclusion in Thirteen Mexican Artists at the Chicago Art Club in 1941. In 1942, Alfred Barr, Director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, purchased a stone sculpture for the permanent collection. In 1943, the Metropolitan Museum in New York acquired two drawings. That year, Zuņiga was included in exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as well as an exhibition at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. Recent Mexican Art, shown at the Philadelphia Museum of Art then traveled to Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, Baltimore and New Orleans.

Notably, Zuņiga’s importance was early realized in California, where his reputation and legions of collectors - both private and with museums - has been particularly formidable for decades. Monumental sculptures by Zuņiga can be found in the sculpture gardens of important Southern California museums such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, UCLA Sculpture Gardens, University of Southern California, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and San Diego Museum of Art. His works are also included in the collections of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C., Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University; Phoenix Museum of Art; Costa Rican Art Museum; Museum of Modern Art, Mexico; Latin American Museum of Art, Buenos Aires; Middleheim Sculpture Garden, Antwerp, etc.

The gallery will close on December 23 for the holidays and will re-open on January 2. This important exhibition has been extended through January 2008.