Vidal Payo Fernández

Category: Sculptor
Birth Date: in 1914
Birth Place: Alemparte - Lalín (Pontevedra)
 Curriculum

When he was thirteen, he started to work the granite in the mountains called 'Alemparte' and 'Pedroso' and when he was eighteen he already directed a group of stonemasons. His work is characterized by the expressiveness, influenced by the Galician Romanesque. According to Antón Castro "his work is radically Galician from the aesthetic point of view, vigorous in the conception of shape, which reminds us of the expressionist wisdom of the best stonemasons, those who knew how to endow their projects with sensitivity and style, just as we can see in those granite 'laxeirian' women'. His work can be found all over Galicia, Madrid, Canaries, Andalusia, Balearics, Catalonia, Asturias, Europe (Italy, France and Germany) and America (Venezuela and Argentina). We can divide his work into seven groups: crosstones, religious figures, profane figures and nudes, fountains, coats of arms, constructions and mobile figures.

 Work & Activities

CROSSTONES: Rodeiro (1951) - Madrid (1968) - Ourense (1960) - Vilanova de Arousa (1983) - Burela (1988) - Alto do Faro (1994) - Complexo 2000 (Lalín - 1994)... RELIGIOUS FIGURES: -Sagrado Corazón (Lalín-1956), (Oviedo-1957) -Peregrina (Cambados-1957) -Virxe do Carme (Moneixas-Lalín-1982) -Peregrina e Apóstolo (Lugo-1983) -San Antón (A Coruña-1985) -Divina Pastora (Lalín-1992)... PROFANE FIGURES AND NUDES: Nu colección Requejo (1985), Nus gregos (Vigo-1985), O Cura das Abellas (Chantada-1984), Afiador (Alemaña-1959), Carallás (Arxentina-1978), Ferreiro (Fundación "A Solaina" -1984), Leiteira (A Coruña - 1972), Maternidades (Ourense-1963, 1973 - A Coruña-1981 - Lalín-1986)... FOUNTAINS: Ferrol (1962, 1986), Santiago (1964), Vigo (1965), Lalín (1970), A Coruña (1978)... COATS OF ARMS: Santiago (1969), Rodeiro (1982), Lugo (1987), Pontevedra (1987), Lalín (1998)... CONSTRUCTIONS: Enlargement of the church in Lalín, lateral naves, sacristy, belfry...

 Other Interesting Aspects

In addition to 22 honour diplomas, Payo Fernández got other distinctions such as the first medal at the Contest 'Holy Year of Compostela 1971' and a medal in the fair of 'Casa de Campo' in Madrid and at the Craftsmanship Exhibition in Santiago (1972). Besides, he received honour congratulations in Mallorca (1975). In 1972, he was nominated as 'distinguished artisan' at 'Palacio de Cristal' in Madrid.