Long-Lost Artworks by Chilean Muralist Julio Escámez Are Slowly Being Uncovered and Restored
Two murals by Chilean artist Julio Escámez, painted for Chillán’s city hall and long believed destroyed under Augusto Pinochet’s regime, are being uncovered and restored, with the first expected to be viewable by December 2027. Escámez was commissioned in 1969 by Chillán mayor Eduardo Contreras Mella and completed the works over more than two years; they were unveiled in June 1972 and titled The Beginning and The End. After the 1974 coup that overthrew Salvador Allende, Escámez self-exiled to Costa Rica and the murals were painted over, then rediscovered in 2021 during a municipal heritage research project. Restoration involves removing up to 12 layers of white paint and conserving the original surface; the Municipality of Chillán’s Heritage Unit added four specialists this month, and mayor Camilo Benavente said the hires followed a public competition.
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This story was covered in Culture Wars and AI’s Art Power Play