The Núñez Brothers

A Study in Global Art History Chilean artists Guillermo (1930–2024) and Sergio (1931–2002) As brothers, the Núñez brothers shared similar starting conditions, but Prague, where they studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in the late 1950s and early 1960s, was the last place where they lived and worked together. Since then, their careers, spanning several continents, have taken radically different directions. Guillermo Núñez worked in New York, from where he returned to Chile to participate in Salvador Allende's cultural policy as director of the Museum of Contemporary Art. After Allende's death, he was imprisoned and had to flee to Europe, where, as a dissident, he bore witness to the crimes of Pinochet's military regime through his work in both Western and Eastern Europe. Sergio Núñez left Prague for post-revolutionary republican Iraq to teach at Tahrir College in Baghdad. After another coup in Iraq, he returned to Prague, settled there, and worked for the International Union of Students, for which he designed posters. While Guillermo Núñez is considered a key representative of Chilean modern art, Sergio Núñez has been forgotten. The book uses the methodology of global art history to compare the careers of both brothers. It is published in Czech and English as part of the NAKI III / Places of Creativity* / Art and Design Education – Constructing Identities, Preserving the Past, and Designing the Future project. Graphics by František Polák.

The book accompanies the exhibition of the same name at the UM Gallery (October 24–December 20, 2025).