María Dolores Fernández

Place: Cartagena

Born: 1926

Biography:

Lola Fernández, also known as María Dolores Fernández, was born in Cartagena, Colombia in 1926. She is a leading Costa Rican teacher and abstract painter. Fernández moved with her family to Costa Rica while still a child and began her artistic training at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas (University of Costa Rica) in 1941. She studied under Francisco Amiguetti. Fernández then studied abroad, first at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Colombia starting in 1950 and later at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Italy until 1958. She also travelled to Morocco, the Middle East, Japan, India, and China during her studies. Fernández became a professor at the University of Costa Rica and her students included Virginia Pérez-Ratton. In 1980, her painting of a volcano was used on a Costa Rican stamp. She was given the Magón National Prize for Culture in 1995. Fernández was part of the first wave of Costa Rican women artists, which included Margarita Bertheau, Dinorah Bolandi, and Sonia Romero. These four women are said to have created the second generation of Costa Rican women artists.