The poet Víctor Amaya González interviewed Roberto Pizano in 1925, when the latter was named director of the Escuela de Bellas Artes [School of Fine Arts] in Bogotá. The interview was then included in Roberto Pizano, the book published by Sociedades Bolívar y Seguros Bolívar in 2001. During the interview, the Colombian painter expressed his opinions on cultural life in Europe, modern art, local and European artists and Colombian art, and referred to the work of colonial artists during the viceroyalty period in New Granada, such as Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos. Pizano also mentioned the works of Rómulo Rozo that were painted in the twentieth century, and called attention to the fact that Colombia’s archeological heritage was being shipped to Europe. He suggested that a “palace” should be built to house the Escuela de Bellas Artes and its museum. 

Roberto Pizano (1896–1929) was one of the most influential Colombian artists of the early twentieth century. He attended the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain, from 1917 through 1920, where he was influenced by Spanish painters such as Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923) and Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930), among others. When Pizano returned to Bogotá he took a teaching position at the Escuela de Bellas Artes (now the Escuela de Artes Plásticas de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia [School of Visual Arts at the National University of Colombia]), where one of the students in his painting class was Ignacio Gómez Jaramillo (1910–1970). Pizano wrote several books and published articles in magazines and newspapers, and is known for his monograph, “Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos: pintor de la ciudad de Santa Fe de Bogotá” [Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos: A Painter from the City of Santa Fe de Bogotá] (Paris: Camilo Bloch Publisher, 1926). He was named director of the Escuela de Bellas Artes and during his tenure he established a Museo de Reproducciones Artísticas [Museum of Artistic Reproductions], which opened after his death. This collection, which is now known as the “Colección Pizano” [Pizano Collection], is jointly held by the Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia and by the Museo Nacional de Colombia. Pizano was one of the major art promoters in the country, and died in Bogotá, the capital city.    

This item was published in Cromos magazine in July 1925, as mentioned in the article. Roberto Pizano (2001) was published by Sociedades Bolívar y Seguros Bolívar as a tribute to the life and work of this Colombian painter.