Pancho Fierro

PANCHO FIERRO (Ciudad de los Reyes, Peru, 1807 - Lima, Peru, 1879)
"Vendedora ambulante de picarones", ca. 1840.
Pencil and watercolor on paper.
Inscribed "Picarones" at the bottom.
Observations: the authorship has been attributed to Pancho Fierro by the expert in this artist Gustavo León y León.
Measurements: 21.5 x 14.5 cm; 29 x 22.5 cm (frame).

Watercolor by Pancho Fierro, one of the great visual chroniclers of republican Peru in the 19th century. The work represents a street vendor of picarones, a traditional Lima sweet made of fried dough and usually served with honey. The figure appears standing, frontal and isolated on a neutral background, following the characteristic typology of the scenes of popular types developed by the artist.

The protagonist wears a light skirt and blue blanket, and carries on her head a large tray with picarones, balanced with naturalness. In one hand she holds a basket with leaves, possibly intended for transporting or serving food. The composition combines descriptive precision and popular freshness, paying special attention to the clothing, utensils and daily attitude of the figure.

The work is part of the Lima costumbrista tradition, interested in documenting characters, trades, clothing and urban scenes of nineteenth-century Peru. The use of watercolor, with vivid colors and simple but effective application, reinforces the documentary and expressive character of the piece. Because of its subject, format and observation of authorship, it constitutes an interesting testimony of street commerce and popular life in Lima around the middle of the 19th century.

Francisco "Pancho" Fierro Palas was a Peruvian painter and watercolorist, considered a fundamental figure of Latin American costumbrismo and one of the great visual chroniclers of 19th century Lima. Of mulatto origin and self-taught, he developed a diverse artistic activity, making commercial signs, posters, mural painting and figures for nativity scenes, although he achieved special recognition for his watercolors of popular types and urban scenes. He was listed as a first class painter in Lima's lists, together with outstanding names such as José Gil de Castro.

His work is represented in important collections, among them the Pinacoteca Municipal Ignacio Merino of Lima, that conserves the famous album Lima, tipos y costumbres from Ricardo Palma; the Hispanic Society Museum & Library of New York; the Brooklyn Museum; the National Museum of Fine Arts of Buenos Aires; and the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of St. Petersburg, where the collection gathered by Leopoldo Shrenk is conserved. In 1937, José Sabogal dedicated a study to him and the Institute of Peruvian Art recognized him as "the first Peruvian artist".