MARINA NUÑEZ DEL PRADO (La Paz, c. 1910 - Lima, 1995). "Torso" Esculpido em guayacan, madeira tropical. Altura (sem a base em que está encaixado): 0. 38 m. Assinado sobre a parte inferior a ponta de faca, M. Nuñez del Prado, em caixa alta. Marina Núñez del Prado was one of the most respected sculptors from Latin America. Her work is highly sensuous, with rolling curves. She carved from native Bolivian woods, as well as black granite, alabaster, basalt and white onyx. Perhaps one of her most famous works is "White Venus" (1960), a stylized female body in white onyx. Another celebrated work is "Mother and Child," sculpted in white onyx. Indigenous Bolivian cultures inspired much of her work.[2]Along her successful career she met outstanding artists such as Pablo Picasso, Constantin Brâncuși, poets Gabriela Mistral, Alfonsina Storni and Juana de Ibarbourou. She was also a friend of the Bolivian writer Franz Tamayo. Her work has been the subject of international and national critique. Botelho Gozalvez [5](1961) argues that her work is marked by two main characteristics: grace and strength. The strength is seen through her Andean landscapes and her grace is recognizable in the harmonious geometry of her works. Botelho claims that Nunez del Prado has a “genius loci” and distinguishes four periods in her work. The first period is characterized by the musical thematic of her work.The second period is characterized by the use of bidimensional sculpture and a social tematic. The third period is characterized by the tridimensional stone sculpture. It is also known as the ‘maternal’ period because of her aymara Madonnas and other depictions of indigenous women. Finally, the fourth period is the neo-abstract which has been influenced by Picasso, Archipenko and Milles. In similar fashion Hector Herazo Rojas [6](1962) argues that her works is characterized by strength, grace and monumentality He also points out that her works revolve around the thematic of race, myth and tradition. Her sculptures of indigenous motherly figures and mythic animals can attest to this. Pedro Querejazu [7](1996) coincides with Herazo Rojas on her race thematic and suggest that her sculptures originated within the movement of ‘native’ realism. According to him, her later her work adopted a modern and international expression which achieved a final stage immersed in the abstractism. This later work focused on the female figure and creatures of the Andes. On this later stage she worked with Amazonian tropical woods, bronze, and stones such as granite, andesite, basalt, onyx and marble. Other critics like Eduardo Mendoza Varela [8](1961), who reviewed her sculptures exhibition shown in the Luis Angel Arango library at the bank of the Republic of Colombia in Bogota Colombia, argues that her work is ‘miraculous’ and ‘mysterious’. His critique employs poetic metaphors to emphasize her skills and mastery of the materials in her sculptures. He considers the abstracted and reduced forms as possessing the ability to go beyond just physical representation but capture the spirit of the artist herself. The critic Guillermo Nino de Guzman[9] also refers to her work as ‘genius’ and a constant force of creative energy in regards to her series “Mujeres al Viento”(Página 7, 2014). Finally, her work has inspired poetry verses. The Spanish poet Rafael Alberti has dedicated an homage to her work.