The Minstrel’s Corner (1999) José Ramiz Barquet

Introduction

The Minstrel's Corner by Ramiz Barquet, downtown Puerto Vallarta

The Minstrel’s Corner (La Rinconada del Juglar), Ramiz Barquet

Ramiz Barquet offers a different sculpture in the Minstrel’s Corner, a silent minstrel awaits at Hidalgo street before you climb the stairs up Galeana into the colorful gardens on the hills of Puerto Vallarta.

If you are walking along the Malecon and get to the lighthouse, walk up Galeana, like going up the hill, at the point when the street intersects Hidalgo, the street ends and the stairs up the hill start, this is where you’ll find this statue by Jose Ramiz Barquet inaugurated in May 1999 that depicts a minstrel playing on his flute.

Ramiz had noticed that people used this spot to throw trash, so he conceived “The Minstrel Corner” together with his longtime friend and architect Rafael Mijares (co-designer of Mexico City’s very famous Anthropological Museum).

The Minstrel's Corner (1999) José Ramiz Barquet, Galeana Street, Puerto Vallarta

The Minstrel’s Corner, Ramiz Barquet

A drainage system that runs below the street was then designed and the available space was then used for a seated resting area (maybe a little rest before going up the hill?) and the sculpture. This also encouraged improvements in the gardens on the way up the hill along Galeana Street.

A nice photo on Flickr

Where is The Minstrel’s Corner?

It’s not on the main sculpture open-air gallery, The Malecon, but it is close by and is on the way up to Gringo Gulch or if you are walking up Galeana on the way to the Lighthouse Lookout on Matamoros street.

When you arrive at the Malecon Lighthouse on the corner of the boardwalk/Morelos street and Galeana Street, walk up the street toward the hill, you’ll find it just before the staircase up to Matamoros Street on the corner of Galeana and Hidalgo (the same street as the Crowned Parish.

About the artist, José Ramiz Barquet

José Ramiz Barquet (Mexican Sculptor)

José Ramiz Barquet (1920-2010)

Just as a monument in Beirut, Lebanon, honors his ancestors, his sculptural works adorn the streets and boardwalk of Puerto Vallarta, and honor his adoptive city.

He simply says, “I live here, I love the place and I want to give something back”, “Art must be shared, beautiful art leads us to do beautiful things, it makes us better. Why keep it in the dark when it brings so much happiness in the light?”.

Ramiz Barquet was born in Mexico City on March 7, 1920, and from an early age, he started carving wood. Ebony and precious woods were his favorites and he always preferred the human figure as his subject, although he has some well-known animals too, pelicans and sharks. He lived for 5 years in Montreal, Canada, studying humanities and exploring nature, something that later always influenced his art.

“As a child, I carved wood, then rock and then marble – a material too cold and only good for rolling out pizzas – until I discovered the superior material, bronze. Eventually, my style would not accept any other material, bronze was the right one for the slim and tall lines I prefer.”

He was always a very respected sculptor and artist in the city, not only for his work but also for his active participation in the community and in all cultural aspects of the city. He was the artist behind innumerable works and monuments in the city and can be considered as a patriarch and artistic philanthropist of Puerto Vallarta. He donated the art content of all his local public works and in some cases helped raise funds for the foundry and transportation costs of the pieces. He donated small sculptures to be auctioned and worked to raise funds and resources for local charities for scholarships, the Puerto Vallarta International Film Festival and the Los Mangos Public Library.

He also has works scattered all over Mexico, partly because he was the assistant and protégé of Augusto Bozanno. Master Bozanno was the former director of the famous Academy of Arts in Florence, Italy. He had to emigrate to Mexico City from Italy as a political refugee in the late 1930s for having protested against B. Mussolini.

Stamp with Jose Ramiz Barquet's "The Lebanese Emigrant"

Stamp with Jose Ramiz Barquet’s Lebanon sculpture

Another famous work by José Ramiz Barquet, with Lebanese roots (both parents were from Lebanon), is exactly one of a Lebanese expatriate, officially titled “The Lebanese Emigrant” (El Emigrante Libanés), commissioned by the Centro Libanés, A.C. in Mexico City. It was created to celebrate the centennial of the arrival of Lebanese immigrants (expatriates) to Mexico and was placed in the garden of the Lebanese Cultural Center in Mexico City in 1979. It is a work of 1.5 tons and 3.5 meters (12 ft) high in bronze.

The Lebanese Emigrant (2002) José Ramiz Barquet, Beirut, Lebanon

Lebanese Expatriate by José Ramiz Barquet, 1967 in Beirut, Lebanon

This symbol has taken on current importance after having survived the explosion in the port of Beirut, Lebanon, where a replica of the work is located. It has become a symbol of the Lebanese diaspora, its tribulations and its efforts to prosper and maintain its culture. There are replicas of that statue on the Paseo Reforma in Mexico City, in the port of Veracruz, Mexico; in Chihuahua, Puebla, Mérida, Coatzacoalcos, Guadalajara, Saltillo, San Luis Potosí, Brisbane and Melbourne in Australia and more recently on both Canada’s coasts, on the Pacific in Victoria, BC, and on the Atlantic side in Halifax, Nova Scotia. More about the sculpture: http://www.emigrantelibanes.com/

He participated in many group and solo exhibitions in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta. He also held exhibitions in US cities such as Houston and Los Angeles.

His most famous work, “Nostalgia”, has been on the Malecón promenade since 1984 and is one of the main visual symbols of Puerto Vallarta. It appears in various magazines, newspapers and travel books. The very romantic story of how he was inspired by his relationship with his wife Nelly has captured the imagination of couples of all ages, serving as a symbol of universal love, as well as a tribute to the special romantic qualities of Puerto Vallarta.

The Minstrel's Corner (1999) José Ramiz Barquet, Puerto Vallarta

The Minstrel’s Corner (La Rinconada del Juglar), 1999

Puerto Vallarta’s most famous and beloved sculptor and artist passed away on July 4, 2010.

Other sculptures by José Ramiz Barquet in Puerto Vallarta

Nostalgia (1984)
One of the most famous sculptures in Puerto Vallarta, also the second one installed on the Open-air Gallery that is now the Malecón in downtown Puerto Vallarta. Depicts two lovers enjoying their company and looking out to sea and the future.
More information

The Fisherman (1996)
Located at the intersection of three streets: Libertad, Agustín Ramírez and Insurgentes). It represents a character from Puerto Vallarta’s pre-tourism past, a fisherman (according to the artist named “Isidro”) who walks the streets of the town selling his daily catch, a vital profession for the people of the early 20th Century.
More information

Spiral Shark (1996)
A piece in honor of the shark, which the artist named “Gaspar” by his friend Gaspar Elizondo. The history of Puerto Vallarta is traditionally linked to fishing sharks too. It is also a creature rejected by man, but created with infinite wisdom that has survived millions of years, with a valuable place in the universe in honor of the perfection and efficiency of its being. Located in a small square ending Púlpito street with Los Muertos Beach, between the La Palapa and El Dorado restaurants.
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A Boy, A Book, A Future (2000)
At the entrance to the public library “Los Mangos” in Francisco Villa street. It symbolizes the importance of education and access to books as a gateway to a better future for the individual and for the whole of society. Nothing emphasizes better why a public library is valuable and vital.
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San Pascual Bailón (2008)
One of the sculptures that became part of the extension of the traditional Malecón south to the Cuale River (Malecón II). It is located in front of Restaurant Vitea and represents the patron saint of cooks (and chefs).
More information

The Minstrel's Corner (1999) José Ramiz Barquet

La Rinconada del Juglar, José Ramiz Barquet

Author: M. A. Gallardo

Last Updated on 28/12/2022 by Puerto Vallarta Net