These women have played a vital role in shaping the visual arts in Puerto Rico, contributing to both local and international art movements across a variety of mediums and themes.
Myrna Báez (1931 - 2018)
Painter, printmaker and professor. After studying science at the University of Puerto Rico, she moved to Madrid in 1951 to study medicine, but opted to enter the Academy of Fine Arts in San Fernando. Upon her return to Puerto Rico, she joined the Printmaking Workshop of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP, by its Spanish acronym) in 1959. She became a professor at Sacred Heart University and the Students Art League of San Juan, was a founding member of the Brotherhood of Printmaking Artists of Puerto Rico and president of the Fine Arts Section of the "Ateneo Puertorriqueño". In 1997 the ICP awarded her the National Prize in Painting and in 2000 the Sacred Heart University conferred to her an honorary doctorate degree. She participated in numerous exhibitions, mainly in all of America, and in 2001 presented a retrospective exhibition of her work at the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico entitled “Myrna Báez: An Artist and her Mirrors”. She was a talented colorist who was well known for her vast technical experimentation in printmaking and painting. In these media she portrayed her intense approach to light through the representation of ambiguous interior spaces in which the human figure is transparently fused with the landscape. [Bio]
Olga Albizu (1924 - 2005)
Painter. Albizu studied drawing under Miguel Pou and painting at the University of Puerto Rico under Spanish painter Esteban Vicente. In 1948 she was awarded a scholarship by the University of Puerto Rico to study in New York under German painter Hans Hofmann. Albizu also studied under Morris Kantor, Carl Holty, and Vaclav Vytlacil at the Art Students League in New York. Albizu attended the legendary Parisian art school Académie de la Grande Chaumière in 1951, and in 1952 attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence. In 1956 Albizu’s paintings began to be used for record-jackets for Bossa Nova albums produced by RCA and Verve Records. In 1958 she settled in New York City and her first solo exhibition was organized in Puerto Rico. She stopped painting in 1984. Albizu is the pioneer of Abstract Expressionism in Puerto Rican art, and her work has been described as lyrical. [Bio]
Noemí Ruiz (1931 - 2023)
Painter, printmaker and professor. She earned a bachelor’s degree in arts from Inter American University in San Germán in 1953 and a master’s degree from New York University in 1956. She studied with George McNeil and was a lithography student at the Students’ Association Workshop of the University of California at Berkeley. She completed doctoral studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid. She was an art professor at Inter American University of Puerto Rico until her retirement. In 1979 she was appointed director of the Arts Department and in 2006 she was conferred the title of Professor Emeritus. In 1984 she was founding member of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico. As a tireless promoter of art teaching, from 1988 to 1989 she was a member of the board of directors of the School of Visual Arts of San Juan and of the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture. Along with Olga Albizu, she is one of the key artists in the development of abstract art in Puerto Rico. She has captured in her work the range of colors and rhythms that characterize our tropical region into compositions that portray great visual and expressive force which she has developed from personal ideas and feelings. [Bio]
Consuelo Gotay (B 1949)
Printmaker, designer and professor. She graduated in 1970 from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) and earned her master’s degree from Columbia University in New York in 1971. She started as a printmaking apprentice in the Printmaking Workshop of the UPR School of Architecture with José Antonio Torres Martino as professor, and in Lorenzo Homar’s workshop. She also studied printing at the Bernardino Cordero Vocational School in Ponce, at the Center for Book Arts in New York and in Canada she studied non‑toxic printmaking with Keith Howard. Her teaching profession has been lasting and significant in Puerto Rico (at the UPR School of Architecture) and in the Dominican Republic (at the Institute of Advanced Studies). Her work has earned awards and honorable mentions throughout her remarkable career, and is part of multiple collections in Puerto Rico, the United States and Venezuela. Her works portray her mastery of silkscreen printing, letter design, linocuts and woodcuts, and she has created portfolios and artist’s books that combine images, designs and words harmoniously. Her prints, through textures achieved with elegant strokes, evoke poetic depictions of the native landscape. [Bio]
Ada Bobonis (B 1960s)
Installation artist, sculptor, draftswoman, painter, teacher. Bobonis attended the Escuela de Artes y Oficios (School of Arts and Trades) in Barcelona, and she earned her bachelor’s degree in art, with a major in painting, at the University of Barcelona. She also studied communications with a specialization in visual arts at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in Santurce, PR. Since 1986 she has participated in group shows and has several solo exhibitions to her credit. She has received prestigious scholarships such as the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in New York, the Joan Mitchell Foundation in New York (2018), among others, and in 2006 she was awarded an artistic residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute in New Mexico.
Bobonis has taught at the Puerto Rico School of Plastic Arts. Bobonis works mainly in sculpture and installations, although she has inclined more toward installations recently, using such rudimentary materials as rope, fishing line, and wool, which she may weave, braid, or unbraid. Her work has been compared to Post-Minimalism, with references to arte povera.
Isabel Bernal (B 1935)
Painter and graphic artist. Studied design, drawing and silkscreen at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1952, and painting at the University of Puerto Rico under Professor Osiris Delgado. After graduating in 1957, she started working as a graphic artist at the Division of Community Education (DIVEDCO) until her retirement in 1987. She’s had several solo exhibitions and has participated in several group exhibitions in Puerto Rico, Mexico, Spain and United States. The subjects of her work are the urban and rural landscape, and portraits. [Bio]
In celebrating the remarkable contributions of Puerto Rican female artists, we honor their unique visions, bold experimentation, and enduring impact on the art world. From pioneers of abstract expressionism to innovators in installation art, these women have shaped Puerto Rican art and left an indelible mark on global artistic movements. Their creativity, resilience, and commitment to pushing boundaries continue to inspire future generations, ensuring that their legacy will resonate for years to come. As we look to the future, their stories remind us of the power of art to transcend limitations and forge new paths forward.