Fernando "Ferdie" Pacheco Jimenez (1927-2017)

Untitled [Ybor City Lector] 

Oil on canvas

Signed to left edge

Visible 21 1/2 in. x 27 3/8 in., framed to 27 3/4 in. x 33 1/2 in.

A vivid depiction of a lector at work in a cigar factory in the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, Florida. A central part of the social fabric of the community, the Lector read aloud from newspapers, magazines, and books to the workers as they rolled the iconic Tampa cigars. They would play a pivotal Cigar Makers' Strike of 1931 when they were accused of proliferating Communist propaganda and expelled from the factories, leading to a three-week strike. Here, the smartly dressed Lector reads from a small blue book on a central framed dias. We see the factory workers engrossed in their labor, an overseer enjoying his product, and a server offering a cup of coffee to the Lector. 

Ferdie Pacheco (1927-2017), also known as The Fight Doctor, was the personal physician and cornerman for world heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali and later became a well-known boxing commentator on television. A self-taught artist, most of his works focused on boxing and the Ybor City neighborhood of Tampa, Florida, where he grew up. 

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[Art, Cuban Art, Florida, Cuban-American Art, Floridiana, Tampa, Cigar, Tobacciana]