John Riccardo Cunningham

John Riccardo Cunningham - untitled

Technique: gouache

Artist Biography: John Ricardo Cunningham was born into a multicultural family on February 7, 1918. His father was originally from Scotland and his mother was Peruvian. His father, a merchant seaman who met his mother in Peru in 1910, worked for a British sugar trading company in the port of Cerro Azul, located 125 km south of Lima. Cunningham's father was in charge of the administration of the company, where he lived with his wife and four children, and after his mother's death, the four children were entrusted to Cunningham's aunt, who lived in a bourgeois house in the historic center of Lima. Cunningham's father decided to return to England, so his aunt became their guardian. The family's two sons were sent to a prestigious religious school where Cunningham demonstrated his artistic and athletic abilities; however, at the age of 19, Cunningham began to suffer from depression, which was related to the loss of his mother. Although he continued his studies for some time, he was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia and was institutionalized. His older sister had moved away from Lima, so his younger brother David, who was only 18 months younger than him, took care of him and later became his guardian after the death of his aunt.For most of his life, Cunningham lived at the Victor-Larco Herrera Hospital in Lima, where his privileged social status allowed him to have a single room whose cost was covered by his family. Although hospitalization affected his mobility, he remained active in reading and drawing.His sister took him home for a time after a fall that fractured his hip, but he was eventually transferred to a religious institute for the elderly, where he died in 1991, at the age of 73.John Ricardo Cunningham was the last patient to visit the well-known Peruvian psychiatrist Honorio Delgado before his death in 1969. Despite the difficulties he faced during his lifetime, Cunningham left a mark on the Lima community and his passion for art and sports was a source of inspiration for many. His narrative yet elliptical gouaches seem to make us witness the state of the world. His works were first presented in 2018 and are already on display at the Hervé Lancelin Pinacothèque in Luxembourg.