Boris
Vallejo was born in Lima, Peru in 1941 to a distinguished solicitor.
He became interested in art and music at an early age. He studied
violin for 7 years. For 2 years he attended a pre-medical course but
then with the encouragement of his friends who had noticed how well
he drew, he enrolled in the graphic arts division of Peru's Escuela
Nacional de Bellas Artes' (National School of Fine Arts) where he
received a 5 year scholarship.
He was 16 years old when he received an offer to study in Florence,
but he refused it.
With he confidence growing, in 1964, unable to speak English and only
$80 in his pocket, he put together a portfolio of his work and came
to the United States. Even though he had no friends or relatives here,
with the help of a few other Peruvian immigrants he had met, he quickly
found a job in the advertising department of a trust company in Hartford,
Connecticut. Later he transferred to the New York office.
After 2 years, he became a freelance graphic artist taking on any
work he could find, from advertising graphics to Christmas cards.
He soon moved to comics where he could express his creativity with
monsters and his vision of heroes with bulging muscles. His forms
of winged creatures fighting heroes and heroines became very popular.
A master of his art, Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell(who has become a
master of his style as well) have continued to amaze and excite their
growing number of fans with his unique style of barbarian art.
