Mario Toral
Mario Toral Muñoz (born in Santiago, Chile, on 12 February 1934) is a Chilean painter and photographer.
Also recorded as Mario Toral Muñoz
Mario Toral

Rodrigo Fernández · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Mario Toral Muñoz
- Born
- 12 February 1934
- Birthplace
- Santiago, Chile
- Education
- Montevideo, Uruguay High Art School, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris
- Known for
- Universidad de Chile metro station Mural, "Memoria Visual de una Nación" (Visual Memory of a Nation).
- Movement
- Muralismo mexicano (Mexican Mural)
- Awards
- Medal of honor from the Pablo Neruda Foundation
- Nationality
- Chile.
- Occupation
- painter, photographer and printmaker.
- Honours
- Guggenheim Fellowship.
- Languages
- Spanish.
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q5999094 · wikipedia · Mario Toral
In this article
Biography
Biography
Mario Toral studied at Beaux-Arts de Paris. The recorded working language is Spanish. Employment is recorded with Universidad Finis Terrae. Works named in the authority record are Memoria visual de una nación. Work by Mario Toral is recorded in the collections of Museum of Modern Art. Distinctions recorded are Guggenheim Fellowship.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Mario Toral Muñoz • Native Name — En la playa de la casa amarilla • Born — 12 February 1934 • Birthplace — Santiago, Chile • Education — Montevideo, Uruguay High Art School, École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris • Known for — Universidad de Chile metro station Mural, "Memoria Visual de una Nación" (Visual Memory of a Nation). • Style — Modern • Movement — Muralismo mexicano (Mexican Mural) • Awards — Medal of honor from the Pablo Neruda Foundation
Career
Career
At the age of 16, Toral moved to Buenos Aires, where he saved money to enroll in the Escuela de Bellas Artes (School of Fine Arts) in Montevideo, Uruguay. He later went to Brazil, where at 21 the first exhibition of his work was shown at the Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art. In 1957, Toral moved to France, where he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Paris. Between 1973 and 1992, Toral lived in New York City. Major works completed during this period include Prisioneras de Piedra (Prisoners of Stone, 1974–1977) and Mascaras (Masks, 1979–1981). Returning to Chile in 1992, Toral was a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Finis Terrae University. In September 2007 Toral received the medal of honor from the Pablo Neruda Foundation in recognition of his career trajectory and contributions to Chilean culture. Toral had collaborated with the poet Pablo Neruda, illustrating a number of his poems, including a 1963 edition of Alturas de Macchu Picchu.
Identity
Identity
Mario Toral is recorded as painter, photographer and printmaker.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1934
Mario Toral born at Santiago.
Memoria Visual de una Nación
• Illustration — «Memoria visual de una nación» (Visual memory of a nation), in Universidad de Chile metro station. In 1999, Toral completed the mural Memoria Visual de una Nación (Visual Memory of a Nation), located at the Universidad de Chile metro station in Santiago. The painting measures 1200 square meters, is located in the platform area and divided into two sections: "Pasado" (“Past”), and "Presente" (“Present”). It shows fragments of Chile's history, from the violent Spanish conquest to the modern day. Toral has said of the mural, “I received the invitation to do this mural when I was living in New York. I immediately thought of the history of Chile as a theme as it was time to rediscover my origins after being away for so long; I also thought to narrate the story in such a way that we would all feel represented. I researched for two years, travelling around the country, reading and interviewing historians, poets and representatives of our original peoples. Afterwards, between 1995 and 1998, I worked in the Neptuno workshops, where a metallic structure was built that replicated the Universidad de Chile metro station and the 1200 square meters I was to paint.” In 2011, Lonely Planet named Universidad de Chile one of its "Subway stations worth getting off the train for", and in 2014, the BBC named it one of the seven most beautiful stations in the world.
Literature
Literature
Literature
Toral, Mario, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, 2011
Toral, Mario, Oxford Art Online, 2003
Scholarly footprint
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Mario Toral, revision 1373311321 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Mario Toral 2005–2008 PORTALdeARTE.cl retrieved on 21 March 2015
- 2.Career 2005 – 2008 PORTALdeARTE.cl retrieved on 21 March 2015
- 3.Career 2 2005 – 2008 PORTALdeARTE.cl retrieved on 21 March 2015
- 4.Fundación Pablo Neruda distingue a Mario Toral con el Premio Medalla de Honor Universia.cl 26 September 2007 retrieved on 22 March 2015
- 5.Santago Metro metrosantiago.cl retrieved on 22 March 2015
- 6.Ceremonia de Inauguración del Mural de Mario Toral 27 March 2001 retrieved on 22 March 2015
- 7.Santago Metro news metrosantiago.cl 21 October 2013. Retrieved 22 March 2015
- 8.Subway stations worth getting off the train for Lonely Planet, 19 September 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2015
- 9.Plataforma Urbaba Estación de metro U. de Chile es elegida entre las 7 más bonitas del mundo
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q5999094: Mario ToralWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
His recorded language was Spanish. He was the child of José Toral and Amanda Muñoz Astaburuaga. He was employed by Universidad Finis Terrae. He belonged to Chilean Academy of Fine Arts and Accademia delle Arti del Disegno.
Identity and origins
Career and activity
Memoria visual de una nación
1993
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Prints
4,138 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Mario LabaccoEngraver
- Mario PrassinosEngraver
- Mario Santoro WoithEngraver
- Mario SironiEngraver
- Mario Vellani MarchiEngraver
- Marion Elizabeth TyleeEngraver
- Marion HuseEngraver
- Mark CatesbyEngraver
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