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| CLICK ON IMAGE FOR LARGER SIZE |
 Juan Sisay
[above] the first oil painter
in Santiago Atitlan, began painting around 1950. He gained fame early
winning prizes for his
paintings both in the United States and Europe. The second generation of
painters, Manuel Reanda and Miguel Chavez got their start under his tutelage.
Juan Sisay was assassinated outside his house in 1989 |
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 Two
Juan Sisay's three sons have become painters. (Juan) Diego Sisay [above]
sits in front of an altar honoring their father in the family house. His
older brother Juan Manuel Sisay is undoubtedly one of Santiago Atitlan's
finest artists. Both brothers have studied art both in Guatemala and
Mexico. They were the first painters from
Santiago to specialize almost exclusively in large portraits of the local citizenry. |
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 Miguel
Chavez worked with Juan Sisay for many years, and married one of Juan's
daughters. Miguel Chavez's art has evolved from a primitivistic style to a
more modern expressionistic look. |
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 Miguel
Chavez' son Juan Diego Sisay, named for his famous grandfather and his
uncle, has followed in their footsteps to become at an early age, a
painter. Another namesake and grandson of Juan, Juan Francisco Sisay began
painting a few years before him. Since nearly all the descendants of Juan
Sisay who paint have the first name of Juan it can be confusing keeping
them apart. |
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 Manuel
Reanda, Juan Sisay's first assistant, began working with Juan Sisay as a young boy. He benefited from
Juan's guidance for five years before setting out on his own. Manuel and
his wife Dolores Sapalu de Reanda pose for a photograph in the little
garden in front of their house. Dolores Sapalu one of Guatemala's finest
living weavers wove the traje that each of them wear. |
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 Pedro Miguel Reanda Petzey is one of the young
generation of painters out of Santiago Atitlan. Like most artists in Santiago he has a
gallery on the road up to the center of town. The many tourists who visit Santaigo
daily
by boat must pass his gallery to get to the Zocalo [town square]. In addition to
painting he does wood carving for tourists.
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 One
official, Alfredo Gomez Davis, who worked in the Institute of Guatemala
Tourism recognized the cultural importance of the Tz'utuhil painters and
in particular appreciated the naive style of Martin Ratzan who painted
delightful paintings for a number of years in the early 1980's. Martin
soon discovered it was easier to sell traje than paintings and
stopped painting to run his business in traje. Because of his paintings in
Alfredo Gomez Davis collection UNESCO featured him among other artists in
their book Arte Naif Guatemala implored him to begin painting again. |
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 Jose Reanda learned to paint from
his older brother Nicolas. Before he had reached the age of 18 he was painting astounding paintings.
Nicolas had one of the first art galleries in Santiago Atitlán and helped
many young painters, including his brothers, get their start. Both
Salvador and Jose now have their own galleries. Both specialize in
super-life-size portraits, a speciality of Santiago Atitlán artists. |
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To contact us write: Arte Maya Tz'utuhil, P.O. Box 40391, San
Francisco, CA 94140. Telephone: (415) 282-7654.
Email me at
All paintings and photographs Copyright © 1988–2015 Arte Maya Tz'utuhil |
