Yesterday the plastic artist Ermilo Torre Gamboa died in the city of Mérida at the age of 97.

Torre Gamboa was part of a family with an artistic tradition; he was the grandnephew of the painter Juan Gamboa Guzmán, an illustrious artist of the region in the 19th century, and in turn, he was the grandfather of Jorge Ermilo Espinosa Torre, an exponent of Mexican hyperrealism.

Ermilo Torre had a complete training in the arts; He began his education at the Yucatán Academy of Fine Arts and continued it at the San Carlos Academy in Mexico City. At the age of 20 he had the opportunity to travel through Europe, where he perfected his art by making copies of masterpieces in museums such as the Prado and the Museum of Modern Art in Paris.

Back in Mérida, Ermilo was celebrated for his art, and between the 1950s and 1970s he received numerous commissions for religious art and portraits of prominent members of Yucatecan society. Between 1955 and 2008 he had a workshop where he taught painting classes and in 2000 he was awarded the Yucatán Medal for his artistic career.

Ermilo Torre's work has moved between various currents such as modern art, surrealism and religious art. In recent years he dedicated himself to experimenting with abstract art, since his health and age conditions made it difficult for him to do figurative work, but they did not stop his spirit as a painter.

Given the news of his death, the Yucatan Secretary of Culture and Arts issued the following statement yesterday on its Twitter account:

“#RestInPeace the Master. Ermilo Torre Gamboa. #Yucatán loses a notable artist who influenced the nation's visual arts. His work will remain intact and his influence will continue on the creators he promoted. The color and the canvas are in mourning today!”

With information from Diario de Yucatán. Photographs from the Ateneo de Yucatán Museum of Contemporary Art