The Traveling Fish – El Pez Viajero – Signed – Sergio Bustamante

$4,000

A whimsical hand-painted resin sculpture by celebrated Mexican artist Sergio Bustamante (1934–2014), depicting his signature fantastical hybrid figure: a chartreuse-and-emerald fish-bodied boy standing upright on human legs, carrying a small painted bucket in one hand. The oversized round head bears a serene, doll-like human face rendered with two sets of stacked eyes, a recurring surreal motif in Bustamante’s figural work, with softly blushed cheeks and painted red lips. The fish’s dorsal fin, rounded gill fins, and tapering tail are finished in a warm burnt-orange, contrasting against the yellow-to-green gradient of the body.

Modeled and cast in resin, hand-painted in Bustamante’s Tlaquepaque studio, this example is signed “Sergio Bustamante” and numbered 76 from a limited edition of 100, with the artist’s copyright mark accompanying the signature on the underside of the base/body. This model, known as “The Traveling Fish” (“El Pez Viajero”), remains part of Bustamante’s celebrated animal-person series and continues to be produced today in smaller current editions, making earlier, larger editions like this one increasingly sought after among collectors.