Mario Carreño was born in Havana, Cuba. During the decade of the thirties, he starts studying at the San Alejandro Academy, and then travels to Madrid (1932) to study at the San Fernando School. In 1934 he meets Pablo Neruda and his circle of intelectual friends: Rafael Alberti, Federico García Lorca, Acario Cotapos and Manuel Altoaguirre, among others. Due to the Spanish Civil War he moves to Mexico, where he gets to meet that time´s most important muralists: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco. That´s how the mural becomes part of his work, as well as sensing for the first time the importance of introducing Latin American identity to his art. Carreño continues his studies at Paris' Julien Academy, where he organizes his first exhibit, which gets the first good comments in France´s artist circle. Second World War motivates his moving to New York City, where he lives for more than a decade. Between 1951 and 1954 he goes back to Havana to work as a teacher. In 1958, the events around the Cuban Revolution decide Carreño to move to Chile, mainly because of his friendship with Neruda and Universidad de Chile´s invitation to give some Art Courses. His staying in Chile extends until his death, on December 20th, 1999. (continued on the bottom) With the passing of time, Mario Carreño was not only involved in the foundation of Universidad Catolica´s School of Arts, but also to the teaching in several study centers and the creation of public works such as the murals at the San Ignacio School, the Casiño of Viña del Mar and Rancagua´s Hospital del Trabajador (1983). He exposed in several countries and his paintings are now part of the collection of the world´s most important museums and galleries, including New York´s MOMA, the San Francisco Museum of Art, the Caracas Bellas Artes Museum, the Havana Museum, France´s Musée d'Art Moderne of Ceret, Argentina´s Museo de La Plata, Washington´s Latin American Museum of Modern Art and Miami´s Metropolitan Museum.
