Sotomayor, Antonio

Antonio Sotomayor was born in Bolvia and came to San Francisco in 1923. He was educated at the Escuela de Belleas Arts in La Paz and the Hopkins Institute of Art in San Francisco. Primarily known for his murals and paintings, Sotomayor was also an illustrator, caricaturist, designer, ceramicist, and educator. Over the course of his career his work was exhibited in the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, and South America and he became known as the popular "artist laureate" of San Francisco where he lived with his wife, Grace. He died of cancer in 1985 at the age of 82.

Antonio Sotomayor was born May 13, 1902 (some sources say 1906), in Chulamani, Bolivia. He was educated at the School of Fine Arts in La Paz, and came to the United States at age 22, continuing his art education at the Hopkins Institute in San Francisco. He worked as an art director for San Francisco Magazine, as an art consultant, and as an instructor for many years. He did magazine and newspaper drawings, caricatures, and mural paintings throughout his long career as an artist. He began illustrating children's books in the 1930s, many having to do with South American or with Native American themes. He believed in telling stories in pictures, working the illustration first, and said his illustrations for children's books gave him special pleasure. He mainly illustrated other author's works, but in 1967 illustrated his own story, Khasa Goes to the Fiesta, which drew upon his own experiences growing up in Bolivia. Biographical Source: Something About the Author, vol. 11