Fernando de Szyszlo (1920 - 2017) Szyszlo was born in Lima, Peru. After university Szyszlo traveled to Europe where he studied the works of the masters, particularly Rembrandt, Titian and Tintoretto, and absorbed the varied influences of Cubism, Surrealism, Informalism, and abstraction. Szyszlo lived in Paris and Florence from 1948 to 1955, and then returned to Peru. While in Paris he met Octavio Paz and André Breton and was part of the group of expatriate Latin American artists and writers who met regularly engaging in vigorous discussions on how they could participate in the international modern movement while preserving their Latin American cultural identity. Szyszlo became a major force for artistic renewal in his country breaking new ground by expressing a Peruvian subject matter in a non-representational style. He also served as a professor of art at Cornell University and lectured at Yale University.