Programs and Events

U.S. Fulbrighter Unveils Book on Panamanian Artist

May 9, 2006

On May 9, former U.S. Fulbright scholar Anton Rajer unveiled his book “Paris in Panama” commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of the famous Panamanian artist Roberto Lewis’s paintings in Panama’s National Theater. This special event, held at the Museum of Contemporary Art, was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and the Panama City Mayor’s Office, among others, and attended by more than 300 people. Mainstream Panamanian media coverage of the new book has been extensive.

Rajer’s book, a true labor of love, is the product of twelve years of research in France, the U.S., Italy, Spain and Panama. Over the course of eleven chapters, “Paris in Panama” presents the life and art of Roberto Lewis from 1897 to 1908. Lewis, a painter and sculptor, was a towering figure in Panamanian art history. A student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, he also served as the Panamanian Consul in Paris from 1904 to 1912. Some of Lewis’s most important works are his murals and paintings in Panama’s Presidential Palace as well as the National Theater.

Anton Rajer, who holds degrees from Harvard University and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is a professional art conservator. Under multiple Fulbright awards, he has worked in Brazil, Bolivia and Panama. The author of five books and numerous articles, Rajer has served as a museum consultant in the U.S., Latin America and Europe. He has also been a visiting professor for a restoration project at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

Panama holds a special place in Rajer’s heart. A well-known figure here, he has spent years restoring the murals at the Panama Canal Authority’s Administration Building in addition to Lewis’s paintings at the Salon Tamarindo and Salon Amarillo at the Presidential Palace and the ceiling of the historic National Theater. Aside from his restoration projects, Rajer has taught art courses and architecture at the private Catholic University Santa Maria La Antigua and at the University of Panama.

Rajer, through his dedication and years of hard work, has succeeded in creating greater awareness of, and appreciation for, Roberto Lewis’s great contribution to the visual arts. His book serves to record and preserve this important aspect of Panama’s cultural heritage, both for Panamanians themselves and art-lovers throughout the world.