Fernando de Szyszlo was a Peruvian painter best known for his use of pre-Columbian imagery and muted palette. De Szyszlo’s art was an attempt at reinventing Surrealist themes in a Latin American context, concerned more with feelings connected to indigenous mysticism than artistic conceit. Born on July 5, 1925 in Lima, Peru, he went on to study art at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, having abandoning his initial studies in architecture. The artist spent time traveling throughout Europe as a young man, meeting the Surrealist poets Octavio Paz and André Breton. He died on October 9, 2017 in Lima, Peru. Today, De Szyszlo’s works are held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Arequipa in Peru, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, among others.