Olive Trees, Peru

Werner Drewes

Werner Drewes visited Lima, Peru in 1959 and captured this scene of olive trees and red-roofed houses in vibrant colors using the woodcut medium the following year. The city of Lima is peppered with the twisting Spanish fruit trees, which all have origins in the historic olive grove that begins in nearby San Isidro district, the Bosque el Olivar.

A 57-acre grove of olive trees, it was planted by Spanish settler and mayor of Lima, Don Antonio de Ribera in 1560. Only three of his initial 100 specimens survived the ocean journey. However, the coastal South American climate proved to be beneficial and by the time Peru gained its independence in 1821, there would be upwards of 3,000 olive trees in the grove and its surroundings. The trees would prove yet again to be heartier than expected when, embittered by losing the war to the Peruvian people, fleeing Spanish royalists tried to destroy the grove by slashing the limbs off the 250-year-old trunks. The grove survived, with many trees still exhibiting scars from that cruel farewell.

Now, the park serves as a preserve for native bird and insect populations, complete with ponds and flower gardens. As such, the grove remains an attraction to those seeking peace and quiet in the middle of a bustling city. Drewes captured a summer day in the year that the park was reserved as a National Monument, completing the scene with an azure sky.

Werner Drewes was born in Canig, Germany on 27 July 1899. During World War I, he volunteered for the German army and served in France. In 1919, he enrolled in the Technische Hochschule in Berlin-Charlottenburg where he studied architecture and design. Between 1920 and 1921, he was enrolled at the Stuttgart School of Architecture and the Stuttgart School of Arts and Crafts. He then attended the Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar where he studied under Paul Klee, Oskar Schlemmer, and Johannes Itten. In 1927 he enrolled at the Staatliches Bauhaus Dessau where he studied under Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

Drewes emigrated to United States in 1930, settling in New York City. During the Depression he taught drawing and printmaking at the School of the Brooklyn Museum under the Federal Arts Project. In 1936, Werner Drewes became a citizen of the United States and he joined the American Artists Congress and co-founded the American Abstract Artists group. Between 1940 and 1941, he was Director of Graphic Arts for the Federal Arts Project in New York. In 1944, Drewes began working at Atelier 17 and the following year was included in the Tenth Exhibition of Prints by Thirty-five Members of Atelier 17 Group at the Willard Gallery in New York. During World War II, Drewes worked at Fairchild Industries as an aerial map maker.

Werner Drewes died in Reston, Virginia on 21 June 1985.