Villa, Hernando

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Villa, Hernando

Villa, Hernando Gonzallo (1881-1952).

Bolero by Hernando Villa (1881-1952)

40" x 30", Mixed Media/Board, Signed Lower Left

Est.: $3,000 - $5,000
Sold by John Moran Auctioneers for $25,880 on 2/20/2007
ARTIST WORLD RECORD

Painter, illustrator, muralist.

Born in Los Angeles, CA on Oct. 1, 1881, the son of Esiquia and Miguel de Villa.

His parents came to LA from Baja California in 1846 when the state was still part of Mexico. Raised in an artistic milieu, his mother was an amateur singer and his father an artist with a studio on the Plaza.

Villa studied locally under Louise Garden-Macleod at the School of Art & Design in 1905, and later taught there after studying for one year in England and Germany.

He established a studio in LA and worked as a commercial artist and illustrator for the Santa Fe Railroad for 40 years.

He died in LA on May 7, 1952.

Equally facile with oil, watercolor, pastel, and charcoal, his specialty was the Old West, Indians, missions, and the Mexican vaqueros. Villa's most famous work is the emblem of the Santa Fe Railroads, The Chief.

Exhibited: extensively in LA.

Awards: gold medal, PPIE (mural).

Works held: Laguna Beach Museum; LACMA; Fort Worth Museum of Art; Citizen's Trust & Savings Bank, LA (mural); Santa Fe RR collection; New Rialto theatre, Phoenix, AZ (mural). Sam; Calif. Design, 1910; SCA; Who's Who in LA County, 1927-28

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