Manuel Izquierdo was an artist who lived for a while on SW 4th Ave in Collins View.
His 4th Ave home and studio was across from the Lewis & Clark Ball Field.
A remembrance: The residents on 4th Avenue were up in arms over the college's development of property east of 4th and Boones Ferry Rd for use as a ball field. Not so much for baseball, but the Parking along 4th, and the Loudspeaker, and all the Noise.
Neighbors came to CVNA meetings to tell what a nuisance the ball field had become.
As chair of the neighborhood association at the time, I recall a special meeting between 4th Ave neighbors and the College. Manuel attended, describing all these things in animated and humorous detail.
He brought a Bag of Baseballs he had collected, saying they'd all ended up in his yard.
He dumped the balls out on the table for dramatic effect.
What a character! (I admired him greatly.)
Eventually, the college developed a parking lot for the ball field -- supplementing the Law School parking, and the city prohibited parking along 4th Ave. (Still enforced by College?)
THE DREAMER
I am reminded of Manuel when passing down the "2nd Ave" pedestrian trail downtown. I see "The Dreamer" in various lighting conditions.
THE DREAMER, J Miller June 6, 2024
The sculpture is downtown in Pettygrove Park, where two pedestrian trails intersect -- Formerly 2nd ave and SW Montgomery.
It was perhaps made in 1979, and installed in the current location in March 1981.
See the References for many links to his artwork. Are you familiar with his pieces?
On the internet...
I found these things on the internet. Links to sources are below for further reading and photographs of his art and of Manuel. --jm
Born in Madrid, Spain, Izquierdo's family fled after the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and settled in Portland, Oregon in 1942. He was introduced to welding while working at the Kaiser Shipyards during World War II. He earned a degree from the Museum Art School (now known as the Pacific Northwest College of Art) in Portland, Oregon, where he later taught for 46 years. In 1991, he received the Oregon Governor’s Arts Award.
He and his siblings fled the fascist Franco government Spain in 1936, escaping over the Pyrenees, spending some years in France (where he briefly attended the Museé des Beaux Arts, Marseilles) and finally, through the help of the American Friends Service Committee, moving to Portland, Oregon, in 1942.
Izquierdo, a lively, outrageous, and funny prankster, who could be bawdy, childish, inappropriate and also very inspiring, brought Spanish ideas of the grotesque and the sublime together with an elegance and sensuality never before seen in the art of the Northwest. His work is both quintessentially modern and ancient. - Roger Hull
I can definitely attest to the prankster description. Passionate would be another adjective. --jm
[LINK]
PCC Art Collection --- woodcuts, silk screen, welding!
[LINK]
Karin Clarke Gallery, Eugene.
Izquierdo has been represented by Portland's Laura Russo Gallery for 20 years, and his work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum, and the Portland Art Museum.
[LINK]
Manuel Izquierdo: Myth, Nature, and Renewal; January 19 – March 24, 2013
[LINK]
Manuel Izquierdo at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art
[LINK]
There may be a book of this 2013 exhibit -
136 pp., 115 color and black/white illustrations, notes, bibliography, 8.5” x 11”;
$35; Roger Hull
[LINK]
Roger Hull died Oct. 5, 2023, in Salem.
Hull taught at Willamette University for 40 years, also curated many exhibitions and wrote brilliantly about many leading Northwest artists. LINK goes to an
Oregon Arts Watch article that mentions Izquierdo and Jack McLarty whose mural is shown on this blog's Arts category.
[LINK]
“Iberian Venus” Sculpture by Manuel Izquierdo. Read about it in this Western Oregon Campus Art Feature.
Editor's Note
As noted, the author had first hand experience with Mr lzquierdo attending Collins View neighborhood meetings, but otherwise did not know him personally.
Photo by J.Miller, Edited by J Miller. Many sources, as cited.
Questions for Our Readers
Do you perhaps have a photo of Manuel that could be shared here?
Do you have an anecdote to share??
Where, exactly, was his studio on 4th Ave?
Does anyone know the disposition of his final remains?
Do you have any factual corrections to what is written here?
Comments submitted on this article
Via email - Manuel spent his final years at Oatfield Estates in Milwaukie.
Via email - The artist's buildings and property on 4th Ave are evidently still in the family.
Via email - There is a sculpture of his at WOU - I was a student there when the sculpture went up (it was OCE then). [See “Iberian Venus” sculpture in References above.]
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How this Blog Post should be (was) described on Social Media
Here is what we'd say on Nextdoor: Manuel lzquierdo was a lively artist who lived and presumably had a studio for a time on SW 4th Ave in Collins View. Here is some background on his fascinating life, and some questions we have.
