Mario Toral

{{short description|Chilean painter and photographer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Mario Toral Muñoz | honorific_suffix = | image = Toral, Mario - En la playa de la casa amarilla 06.jpg | image_size = 300px | alt = | caption = | native_name = En la playa de la casa amarilla | native_name_lang = Spanish | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1934|02|12|df=y}}  | birth_place = Santiago, Chile | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =  | education = Montevideo, Uruguay High Art School, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris | alma_mater = | known_for = Universidad de Chile metro station Mural, "Memoria Visual de una Nación" (Visual Memory of a Nation). | notable_works = | style = Modern | movement = Muralismo mexicano (Mexican Mural) | spouse = | awards = Medal of honor from the Pablo Neruda Foundation | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website =  | module = }}

'''Mario Toral Muñoz''' (born in Santiago, Chile, on 12 February 1934)<ref>[http://www.portaldearte.cl/autores/toral.htm Mario Toral] 2005–2008 PORTALdeARTE.cl retrieved on 21 March 2015</ref> is a Chilean painter and photographer.

==Career== At the age of 16, Toral moved to Buenos Aires, where he saved money to enroll in the Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) in Montevideo, Uruguay. He later went to Brazil, where at 21 the first exhibition of his work was shown at the Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art.<ref>[http://www.portaldearte.cl/autores/toral1.htm Career] 2005 – 2008 PORTALdeARTE.cl retrieved on 21 March 2015</ref> In 1957, Toral moved to France, where he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Paris.

Between 1973 and 1992, Toral lived in New York City. Major works completed during this period include ''Prisioneras de Piedra'' (Prisoners of Stone, 1974–1977) and ''Mascaras'' (Masks, 1979–1981).<ref>[http://www.portaldearte.cl/autores/toral2.htm Career 2] 2005 – 2008 PORTALdeARTE.cl retrieved on 21 March 2015</ref>

Returning to Chile in 1992, Toral was a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Finis Terrae University.

In September 2007 Toral received the medal of honor from the Pablo Neruda Foundation in recognition of his career trajectory and contributions to Chilean culture.<ref>[http://noticias.universia.cl/vida-universitaria/noticia/2007/09/26/318125/fundacion-pablo-neruda-distingue-mario-toral-premio-medalla-honor.html Fundación Pablo Neruda distingue a Mario Toral con el Premio Medalla de Honor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818223510/https://noticias.universia.cl/vida-universitaria/noticia/2007/09/26/318125/fundacion-pablo-neruda-distingue-mario-toral-premio-medalla-honor.html |date=18 August 2019 }} Universia.cl 26 September 2007 retrieved on 22 March 2015</ref> Toral had collaborated with the poet Pablo Neruda, illustrating a number of his poems, including a 1963 edition of ''Alturas de Macchu Picchu''.

==''Memoria Visual de una Nación''== [[File:Mural de Toral en metro estacion Universidad de Chile.jpg|thumb|left|400px|«Memoria visual de una nación» (Visual memory of a nation), in Universidad de Chile metro station.]] In 1999, Toral completed the mural ''Memoria Visual de una Nación'' (Visual Memory of a Nation), located at the Universidad de Chile metro station in Santiago. The painting measures 1200 square meters, is located in the platform area and divided into two sections: "Pasado" (“Past”), and "Presente" (“Present”).<ref>[http://www.metrosantiago.cl/estacion/universidad-de-chile Santago Metro ] metrosantiago.cl retrieved on 22 March 2015</ref> It shows fragments of Chile's history, from the violent Spanish conquest to the modern day.<ref>[http://www.uchile.cl/portal/presentacion/historia/luis-riveros-cornejo/discursos/6067/ceremonia-de-inauguracion-del-mural-de-mario-toral Ceremonia de Inauguración del Mural de Mario Toral] 27 March 2001 retrieved on 22 March 2015</ref> Toral has said of the mural,<ref>[http://www.metro.cl/noticias/detalle/a50abba8132a77191791390c3eb19fe7 Santago Metro news ] metrosantiago.cl 21 October 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2015</ref>

“I received the invitation to do this mural when I was living in New York. I immediately thought of the history of Chile as a theme as it was time to rediscover my origins after being away for so long; I also thought to narrate the story in such a way that we would all feel represented.

I researched for two years, travelling around the country, reading and interviewing historians, poets and representatives of our original peoples. Afterwards, between 1995 and 1998, I worked in the Neptuno workshops, where a metallic structure was built that replicated the Universidad de Chile metro station and the 1200 square meters I was to paint.” In 2011, Lonely Planet named Universidad de Chile one of its "Subway stations worth getting off the train for",<ref>[http://www.lonelyplanet.com/canada/montreal/travel-tips-and-articles/76820 Subway stations worth getting off the train for] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404195116/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/canada/montreal/travel-tips-and-articles/76820 |date=4 April 2015 }} Lonely Planet, 19 September 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2015</ref> and in 2014, the BBC named it one of the seven most beautiful stations in the world.<ref>[http://www.plataformaurbana.cl/archive/2014/06/27/estacion-de-metro-u-de-chile-es-elegida-entre-las-7-mas-bonitas-del-mundo/ Plataforma Urbaba] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170722183122/http://www.plataformaurbana.cl/archive/2014/06/27/estacion-de-metro-u-de-chile-es-elegida-entre-las-7-mas-bonitas-del-mundo/ |date=22 July 2017 }} Estación de metro U. de Chile es elegida entre las 7 más bonitas del mundo</ref>

==See also== * List of Chilean artists * Chilean art

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toral, Mario}} Category:1934 births Category:Living people Category:Artists from Santiago, Chile Category:Chilean photographers Category:Chilean people of Spanish descent Category:20th-century Chilean painters Category:21st-century painters Category:Chilean male painters Category:20th-century Chilean male artists