Julián Martínez Soto (1921 – May 23, 2000), was a Spanish-born Mexican sculptor and painter. He created more than 200 sculptures in Spain, Italy, Mexico, and the United States. Soto left Spain and arrived in Mexico in June 1937 with the (English: Children of Morelia), a group of children of Spanish Republicans, intending to visit while the Spanish Civil War was ending. His family name is sometimes written as Soros, or Sotos due to journalistic and bibliographic errors.
Life and career Julián Martínez Soto was born in 1921, in Valencia, Spain. He was the son of a Republican teacher. In his early childhood he enjoyed painting. He left Spain and arrived in Mexico on June 7, 1937, with the Niños de Morelia (English: Children of Morelia), a group of children of Spanish Republicans who came to Mexico to spend a "school vacation", or "school camp", while the Spanish Civil War was ending. The Children of Morelia were never officially recognized as exiles, instead, they were named "adopted children of the people of Mexico." He was 16 years old when he arrived. Soto received asylum from President Lázaro Cárdenas.
Soto attended the Mexico-Spain Industrial School () in Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico; and studied art at the National School of Fine Arts (now Academy of San Carlos) in Mexico City.
He worked as a painter at the Estudios Churubusco movie studio in 1949. Soto created more than 200 sculptures; his most notable work is the statue of former President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río in Madrid, which he made as a token of gratitude to the Mexican leader who received the Children of Morelia. Soto's notable students included American sculptor John Sherrill Houser.
He died of a heart attack on May 23, 2000, in Mexico City.
List of works Mexico
Baja California
Lázaro Cárdenas, Ensenada Monument to the Mother, Ensenada Benito Juárez, Mexicali
Mexico City
Statue of León Felipe, (1973), Casa del Lago, Bosque de Chapultepec Monument to Mestizaje (1981) Parque Xicoténcatl, CoyoacánMarjorie Miller, Culture: Mexico Confronts Cortes–Again: It's time to quit vilifying the Spanish 'Father of Mexico' and give him his due, two famous authors argue. (31 March 1992), Los Angeles Times Equestrian statue of José María Morelos, , Coyoacán Equestrian statue of Pancho Villa, , Benito Juárez (formerly located on Avenida División del Norte, Mexico City) Don Pelayo, Parque Asturias Statue of Heberto Castillo, General Archive of the Nation
Sonora
Statue of the Fisherman (1968), Guaymas Statue of Jesús García (1976), Hermosillo Statue of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino (1989), Magdalena de Kino Juan Navarrete Guerrero, Hermosillo José María Morelos, Boulevard Morelos, Hermosillo Bust of Luis Donaldo Colosio, Hermosillo Equestrian statue of Juan Bautista de Anza, Hermosillo Presidents of the Republic, Boulevard Rodríguez, Hermosillo (including Álvaro Obregón, Adolfo de la Huerta, Abelardo L. Rodríguez, Plutarco Elías Calles) Plaza of the Three Presidents, Guaymas (including Adolfo de la Huerta, Plutarco Elías Calles, Abelardo L. Rodríguez) The Fisherman, Guaymas Bust of Lázaro Cárdenas, Guaymas Statue dedicated to the Pioneers of Ciudad Obregón, Ciudad Obregón Statue of José María Leyva, Ciudad Obregón Bust of Luis Donaldo Colosio, Ciudad Obregón The Fisherman, Puerto Peñasco
State of Mexico
Lázaro Cárdenas, Toluca Equestrian statue of Emiliano Zapata, Paseo Tollocan, entrance to Toluca
United States
Arizona
Equestrian statue of Francisco Villa (1981), Tucson Father Eusebio Franciasco Kino (1988), Kino Parkway, Tucson
California Equestrian statue of Juan Bautista de Anza (1967), Lake Merced, San Francisco Statue of Martin Luther King Jr. (1981), 11 ft tall, San Bernardino City Hall, San Bernardino Equestrian statue of José María Morelos (1981), El Parque de México in Lincoln Park, Los Angeles Bust of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, University of California
Spain
Bust of Lázaro Cárdenas, Córdoba Statue of Lázaro Cárdenas, , Madrid
Italy Statue of Father Eusebio Francisco Kino (1990), Segno, Liguria
References
External links