Enrique Alferez (American/New Orleans, 1901-1999), "The Source", c. 1931, plaster maquette for The Shriever Fountain in the Botanical Garden, City Park, New Orleans, height 88 in., width 9 1/2 in., depth 9 1/2 in. Note: The talented and beloved Mexican-born Alferez had a colorful and varied career before settling in New Orleans in 1929 The son of an artist, Alferez spent time with Francisco "Pancho" Villa during the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), joining Villa's army at the young age of twelve. Alferez eventually moved to the US, working in Texas before making his way to Chicago to study art under the revered sculptor and educator Lorado Taft (1860-1936) at the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago. Taft had personally invited the young Alferez to Chicago, after seeing his work during a Lecture Tour of the South. Admired for his elegant, stylized figural sculptures, Alferez's work is to be found throughout his adoptive New Orleans, most especially in the Botanical Garden of City Park. Alferez then involved with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as its New Orleans Director, along with the architect Richard Koch and the landscape artist William Wierdorn, was instrumental in the designing, planning and eventual construction of the Park, which soon became one of the artistic highlights of the city. The work offered here is the model for one of the first sculptures commissioned for the Garden - the female figure at the center of the Shriever Fountain. Inspired by the human figure, Alferez's sculptures are able to simultaneously convey a sense of dignity while suggesting an undercurrent of intense emotion. There is a vitality and urgency to his work that reflects the soul of his adopted city. In his later years, Alferez divided his time between New Orleans and Mexico. In 2006, the Krewe of Rex Parade "Beaux Arts and Letters" included a float honoring Alferez. References: LA Times Obituary, Sept 17, 1999; NY Times Obituary, Sept 15, 1999.