The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 23, 2025

Lizardo Diaz Flores

1991

Roberto Huarcaya

(Peruvian, b. 1959)
Peru, 20th century
gelatin silver print
Overall: 60 x 50 cm (23 5/8 x 19 11/16 in.)
Gift of Jorge and Martha Schneider 2019.141
© Roberto Huarcaya
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This occupational portrait shows the subject amid the objects with which he makes his living.

Description

Lizardo Diaz, a knife sharpener, came to Lima at age 10 when his parents died. Fourteen years later, he met a man with the same last name who taught him the trade and sold him his equipment. The artist wanted workers like Diaz, who serve the tourists and wealthy Lima residents of the upscale Miraflores area, to be seen as individuals, so he handwrote their life stories around their portraits.
  • 1991
    Roberto Huarcaya (the artist)
    Schneider Gallery, Chicago, IL
    June 3, 2019
    the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Lizardo Diaz Flores|url=false|author=Roberto Huarcaya|year=1991|access-date=23 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2019.141