Sabogal, José (1888–1956)

Long associated with the Peruvian ‘indigenista’ movement, Sabogal was lauded by the Marxist José Carlos Mariátegui as a truly ‘Peruvian painter’. The definition of the modern and historic concept of the meaning of Peruvian identity was constantly in flux in the early to the mid-twentieth century, and as such, the artist would fall in and out of favour with the various factions. However, Sabogal’s representation of the Indigenous people of Peru and his commitment to Peruvian history, including the inheritance of Incan culture, served as the beginning of a cultural preservation of this heritage, and engendered the reimagination of the ‘Indian’ by generations of Peruvian artists.