Weeks after his 90th birthday, one of Mérida’s most famous painters has died, local media reported.
Manuel Lizama Salazar was born on June 25, 1931 in Mérida. He is married to Edith Magaña Alpuche, with whom he had three daughters: Oyuki, Ilya and Zazil, and a son, Sandro Manuel, according to Yucapedia.
Lizama is a graduate of Mérida’s Escuela de Artes Plásticas, where he was a professor for 23 years before retiring and devoting himself to painting.
His masterpieces, “Mérida, Melting Pot of 2 Races” and “Peace, a Universal Desire” adorn the Yucatecan capital’s Municipal Palace. Other large-format murals are on permanent display at the Autonomous University of Yucatán, the Medytec Ofalmology Clinic, the Municipal Palace of Valladolid, Japay, the Rodolfo Menéndez de la Peña school, the Victoriano Nieves Hospital in Ciudad del Carmen and at the Civic Center in Glendora, California — one of Mérida’s sister cities.
Lizama’s career dates to 1955, when he left school after four years of studies. He soon participated in both group and individual exhibitions across Mexico and abroad.
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