Background
Batista (birth name: Tomás Batista Encarnación) was born and raised in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, a town located in the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico.
Batista (birth name: Tomás Batista Encarnación) was born and raised in Luquillo, Puerto Rico, a town located in the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico.
His family was poor, but he did well in school and finished high school. In 1958, Batista was awarded a grant and studied sculptoring at the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture under the direction of the Maestro Compostela. Batista also studied art in Louisiana Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes Louisiana Esmeralda in Mexico City, Mexico on a Guggenheim fellowship in 1960 and in the Instituto de Cultura Hispánica in Spain.
He is the creator of some of Puerto Rico"s most famous monuments. After graduating from high school, he moved to San Juan to continue his education. There he met and went to work with the Spanish artist, Angel Botello.
In 1955, while working with Botello, Batista discovered that he had a natural talent to work with the restoration process in wood.
He learned from Botello the secrets of restoration and how to work with gold on wood. In 1957, he realized his first work of art, the Crucifixion.
In 1966, he was named director of the Department of Sculpture and Restoration of the Puerto Rican Institute of Culture. In 1972, Batista spent a year in Spain, where he created the busts of Eugenio María de Hostos and Ramón Emeterio Betances.