Urbici Soler

Soler's work before Cristo Rey ranged across two continents. Born in Farrán, Spain, in 1890, he trained with Adolf von Hildebrand in Munich from 1913. A Buenos Aires contract in 1925 began five years of statuary, and Spain commissioned him to sculpt portrait busts of the native peoples of Latin America, starting among the Araucanians of Chile. The statue he came for stands on the Sierra de Cristo Rey, just across the line in New Mexico, dedicated on October 29, 1939.

What the plaque says

Urbici Soler A master sculptor, Urbici Soler apprenticed under artists in his native Spain before studying and working in Germany, southern Europe, South America, and Mexico. In 1937 he came to El Paso to begin work on the statue "Cristo Rey," which stands on a mountain peak overlooking the city. Soler later taught at the Texas College of Mines (now the University of Texas at El Paso) and died in his home at the base of the mountain upon which "Cristo Rey" was placed. Recorded - 1983

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Chamizal National Memorial — 0.9 mi
  A park on land the Rio Grande once put in dispute, where a century-old border quarrel between the United States and Mexico was settled by treaty and a new concrete channel.
• Magoffin Home State Historic Site — 2.2 mi
  A U-shaped adobe of the 1870s in central El Paso that joins Mexican building to an Anglo plan, closed for restoration through 2027 while its visitor center stays open.
• Ysleta Mission (Corpus Christi de la Ysleta del Sur) — 8.8 mi
  The Tigua mission church at Ysleta, rebuilt in 1908 around the walls, bell and Santo Entierro that came through fire, its interior painted with rain clouds and corn.
• Tigua Indian Cultural Center, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo — 9.6 mi
  The cultural center of Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, the Tigua nation that has lived in the Mission Valley of El Paso since 1682 and keeps its own history here.

More markers nearby

• Victoriano Huerta — steps away
• Henry C. Trost — steps away
• Franklin Canal — 0.3 mi
• James H. White — 0.5 mi