He died suddenly on 22nd September 1949 aged 75 years, while he was still working at the profession to which he had dedicated his whole life. In his studio he was restoring three works of religious art as well as working on the remaining panels required to complete the mural in the Great Hall of the Santiago Normal School. “He worked with skill but also in response to the vocation that was very dear to him,” Professor Pereira would say.

Draftsman, painter and muralist, Roberto Lewis left behind him sculptures including the bust of the poet Tomas Martín Feuillet in La Chorrera, the Rooster on top of the obelisk in the Plaza de Francia and the relief portrait of Don Ricardo Arango at the Central Fire Station. He was completely dedicated to his chosen path through life, which he put before comfort and security. “Roberto did not waver, and he knew how to give a good account of himself right up to the end of his life,” wrote Don Narciso Garay. Alone in his studio on the Atlantic coast, he kept faith in his country, pouring his life into his work and laying the foundations for the development of future artists, an outstanding artist in a country that at that time was without art.

But how did his story begin? Roberto Lewis’s life unfolded from his birth in Panama on 30th September 1874, by an accident of history at precisely the moment at which a small Central American country was looking for its own identity. You only have to visit the National Theater – Panama’s tiny jewel of neo-classical architecture – to witness this for yourself. The ceiling is covered with "el Nacimiento de la Republica” (“the Birth of the Republic”). As you look at it, it is hard to imagine a young Panamanian of just 31 years of age, in the solitude of his studio on the other side of

the isthmus, working day and night to design and paint the 15 panels that would represent the ideals of the Republic.

He made his first foreign visit towards the end of the nineteenth century, to the France of the Belle Epoque which as a 14 year old he must have found enthralling. On his return to Panama he began to teach himself to paint; he then traveled to Costa Rica to learn from the Andalusia teacher Tomas Povedano, but as the Art School had not yet been established and Povedano was busy working on commissions, Lewis decided to return to Paris. This was the beginning of what would become a life dedicated to art. He was a nature lover and his landscapes were an important feature of his life’s work. He was also a very keen fisherman and he loved the Island of Taboga, capturing its scenes in a multitude of canvases. But it is for his tamarinds that he will be remembered, as he gave them personality and brought them to life, made them stand out, placed them beyond the confines of the island as if they were trying to escape from the land in which they are rooted.

A few years before his death while he was still working on the mural for the Normal School, an article was published in the weekly newspaper “Mundo Grafico” about the visit to his studio by the ex President of the Republic Ricardo Adolfo de la Guardia. “The President observed the huge friezes that Don Roberto created for the Juan Demóstenes Arosemena Normal School. This work, together with others created by our foremost artist, will ensure that his name will be remembered long after his death.” The article is illustrated with a photo of Don Roberto offering a glass of champagne to his distinguished visitor. Today Roberto, Panama offers a toast to you.