Byron Gálvez (October 28, 1941 – October 27, 2009) was a Mexican artist who was primarily known for his painting but also created sculpture, including monumental works. He was born in rural Hidalgo state, to a father who played jazz music and read literature, a rarity in 1930s rural Mexico. However, it exposed Gálvez to culture, even though this led to an interest in visual art rather than musing or writing. He went to Mexico City to study art at both the undergraduate and graduate level, but never completed his degrees, opting instead to begin career after his coursework. Before his first individual exhibition, his work was criticized by Justino Fernández, but all of the paintings were sold in advance to foreign buyers including American actor Vincent Price, who called Gálvez a “Mexican Picasso.” Gálvez then managed to replace the forty five paintings for the exhibition in a week. Since then he had individual and collective exhibitions in Mexico, the United States and other parts of the world. He concentrated on painting, which he is better known for, in the 1970s and 1980s, but moved on to sculpture, including monumental works later in his career. Recognitions for Gálvez's work include membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, a retrospective at the Palacio de Bellas Artes and two books published about his life. Life Gálvez was born in Mixquiahuala, Hidalgo and described his childhood as happy, and would not have changed it. His father, Roberto Gálvez, was a farmer and merchant, who was a music and literature enthusiast, a rarity is 1930s rural Mexico. His father played the violin in the town's jazz band, which had almost all classical instruments, making it similar to bands in New Orleans. They even composed new pieces. The artist was named after Lord Byron, and his brothers, Eliot, Aníbal and Dante, after his father's reading preferences. This meant that Gálvez grew up in an environment that encouraged the enjoyment of the arts. However, instead of music or literature, Gálvez stated that his earliest memories related to his attraction to art and that he always wanted to be a painter. The difficulties of farm life convinced him that he needed an education and would have to move to Mexico City in order to go to school. At age sixteen he left home for the capital to study painting at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas,