Leonel Góngora (1932 Columbia – 1999 Boston), was born in Cartago, Colombia. He studied at Escuela de Bellas Artes in Bogota, Colombia, and with Max Beckman at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1959 he traveled to Europe, living in Italy. From 1960 to 1963 he lived in Mexico City and was a founding member of Nueva Presencia and Salon Independiente. He moved to New York City in 1963 then to Boston where he served as a Professor of painting at the University of Massachuesets for over 30 years. He passed away in Boston on June 26, 1999, leaving his wife and two children, aged ten and thirteen. His work is in the permanent collection of MOMA in NYC and the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City.