Manuel Lepe Macedo. Authentication, certificates of authenticity and expert appraisals.

Manuel Lepe Macedo
(1936-1984)

El Rio

“I have been an artist since I was a boy, never studied art, nor will I.”

Think that you may own a painting by Manuel Lepe Macedo? We authenticate, appraise, research and issue Certificates of Authenticity (COA) and provide consultations for all paintings by Manuel Lepe Macedo.

Manuel Lepe Macedo was a Mexican painter, known for his naïve depictions of Puerto Vallarta. Lepe painted imaginative landscapes in his hometown, filled with color and playful scenarios. Lepe illustrated the everyday life and costumes of Puerto Vallarta during its twentieth century development into a resort town.

Elephant with Children

Lepe left school after the fourth grade to work in his father’s store, where he started painting on paper bags. Lepe sold his first painting for only a couple of pesos. Lepe continued to paint, selling frequently to friends and tourists.

Florero con Leon

As Lepe gained success his early paintings evolved into larger more developed pieces. Lepe continued to use a childlike style and bright colors with watercolor and oil paint. Lepe filled each piece with flowers, animals and children. Often Lepe showed the typical humble houses of his town and woman washing clothes in the river or children playing with a piñata. Sometimes scenes were idyllic visions with rainbows, the garden of Eden and angelic children flying over the ocean.

Niños con Florero

Lepe’s work was not guided by an Academy, like most known painters, but by his personal vision and instinct. Lepe, though untrained, became popular and excepted by galleries and other artists.

La Cascada II

In 1963 Lepe started to build his reputation when Hollywood stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor decided to buy a house in Puerto Vallarta. The celebrities filled the house with twenty-four of Lepe’s paintings. From that point numerous celebrities noticed Lepe’s work, including: Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Ava Garner and John Travolta. In 1980 Lepe went to New York to exhibit in major museums.

Lepe had many expositions but the most satisfying for Lepe was at the Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles, California. More than one million visitors came to the three-month exposition.

During the LA exhibit, Lepe became a member of the Cultural Alliance of Texas, promoting good relations between Mexico and the United States. Lepe became internationally known, and was named Mexico's national artist by president Luis Echevarría Álvarez in 1979. Lepe’s workshop in Puerto Vallarta is maintained as a gallery and museum and April 17 is celebrated in Puerto Vallarta as Manuel Lepe day.

Do you think you own a painting by Lepe? Contact us. We are the Lepe experts.

Back to Artists