Álvaro Vértiz

Álvaro Suárez Vértiz was born on October 25, 1949, in Chosica, Lima, Peru, son of Germán Suárez Vértiz and María Teresa Reyes Carrillo, founders of the 'Taller Suárez Vértiz' in Miraflores. The eighth of twelve siblings, he grew up training artistically within the family workshop itself, surrounded from childhood by figures such as Teodoro Núñez Ureta, Manuel Ugarte Eléspuru, Sérvulo Gutiérrez, and Víctor Humareda, regular visitors to his father's studio.

At age 11 he collaborated with Teodoro Núñez Ureta on the mural 'La Educación en el Perú,' measuring 3.10 x 35 metres. His first group exhibitions date to 1962, and his first solo show, at age 13, was held at the Casino Náutico de Ancón in 1964. He also studied engraving, jewelry-making, and leather embossing under Carlos Bernasconi, running an artistic silversmithing workshop with his brother Hernando.

During the 1970s he combined his artistic career with humanitarian work in the Callejón de Huaylas, Peru, joining a group of volunteers in 1970 who assisted survivors of a major earthquake.