Lorenzo Homar

Puerto Rican-born artist

• Born: September 10, 1913
• Birthplace: Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, Puerto Rico
• Died: February 16, 2004
• Place of death: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Homar was a prolific and multitalented artist who produced a wide range of works including woodcuts, silkscreens, calligraphy art, engravings, posters, and political caricatures. Despite his long career and role as the first director of the Graphic Arts Workshop, he remains largely unknown.

Early Life

Lorenzo Homar Gelabert (OH-mahr) was born in the barrio of Puerta de Tierra in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Lorenzo Homar Zampol and Margarita Gelabert. His father was a film distributor and his mother was a pianist; both were immigrants from Majorca and returned to Spain for a brief period during their son’s childhood. After returning to Puerto Rico, the Homar family moved to the United States in 1928 in search of work.

After arriving in New York at fifteen years of age and during the Great Depression, Homar abandoned his formal studies to work in a textile factory. He participated in athletics and acrobatics as an adolescent, even working temporarily as a vaudeville gymnast in the 1930’s. In 1931, he enrolled at the Art Students League of New York after demonstrating an aptitude for art. There he studied with artist George Bridgman for six years, developing his personal style and honing his artistic talent, which helped him secure an apprenticeship with jeweler Cartier. As a result of this opportunity, he learned engraving skills from Ernest Loth, a master designer at the jewelry company. This ability was integrated into later works featuring Homar’s distinctive style of typography and calligraphy. After completing his apprenticeship, Homar began working for Cartier full time.

Life’s Work

Homar’s impressive and diverse artistic career was interrupted by his voluntary enlistment in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was wounded in action in the Philippines and received a Purple Heart. Upon returning from his tour of duty, he resumed working at Cartier and began taking art classes at the Brooklyn Museum. His teachers there included accomplished and internationally renowned artists such as Arthur Osver, Gabor Peterdi, Ben Shahn, and Rufino Tamayo. In 1950, he returned to his homeland and had his first exhibition the next year at the Puerto Rican Athenaeum. Homar then established the Center for Puerto Rican Arts and produced significant works for DIVEDCO, a division of the Puerto Rico Department of Education, where he worked as a teacher and artist.

Homar produced hundreds of works of art, ranging from woodcuts to political caricatures depicting the cultural, historical, and political issues prevalent in Puerto Rico. He also created posters and printed engravings with vivid scenes and unique lettering. Homar received numerous accolades for his work. He earned a Guggenheim Fellowship in fine arts in 1956. The next year, he heeded the government’s request and established the Graphic Arts Workshop of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. He served as director until his retirement in 1973. During his tenure there, Homar taught graphic arts and inspired countless artists, including Myrna Báez and Antonio Martorell.

In 1978, the Ponce Museum of Art presented the first full retrospective exhibit of Homar’s work. In 2001, 150 of his posters were displayed in the exhibit “Abra palabra . . . la letra mágica: Carteles de Lorenzo Homar 1951-1990” at the Museum of Art at the University of Puerto Rico. His works have been displayed across the United States and Puerto Rico and are exhibited at the Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Princeton University Library, and various museums in Puerto Rico.

In 1987, the University of Puerto Rico awarded Homar an honorary doctorate in arts. The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture awarded him a Medal of Honor in 2003. A year later, in 2004, Homar died in San Juan near the same neighborhood where he was born. He was surrounded by his wife, Dorothy, and their two daughters.

Significance

Homar was a prolific artist who produced hundreds of works, including posters, printed engravings, silkscreens, and caricatures. He was a pioneer in the graphic arts, design, and plastic arts movements during the second half of the twentieth century. He also was a major influence on the Puerto Rican artists known as Generación del Cincuenta (Generation of the 1950’s). He widely utilized the afiche, a type of commemorative poster with engravings and calligraphy. Although his works are not well-known internationally, Homar received numerous accolades for his art.

Bibliography

AIGA: The Professional Association for Design. “Lorenzo Homar.” http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/design-journeys-lorenzo-homar. This professional association Web site offers a detailed biographical profile of Homar and his career.

Cotter, Holland. “Art in Review; Between the Lines.” The New York Times, June 2, 2006. Review comparing Homar and Pedro Pietri and includes a brief discussion of Homar’s career. Author claims that Homar was one of the most influential but overlooked modern artists.

Mendez Mendez, Serafín. “Lorenzo Homar.” In Notable Caribbeans and Caribbean Americans: A Biographical Dictionary, by Serafín Mendez Mendez and Gail A. Cueto. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003. This reference work includes a valuable entry on Homar’s early life and career.

Roylance, Dale. “The Art of Lorenzo Homar.” Calligraphy Review volume 11 (1994): 34-37. Roylance describes the designs that define Homar’s distinctive style.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Lorenzo Homar: A Puerto Rican Master of Calligraphy and the Graphic Arts. Princeton, N.J.: The Graphic Arts Collection, Princeton University Library, 1983. Twenty-four-page pamphlet focusing on Homar’s work in various media.