Documents of Latin American and Latino Art

This article praises the artistic qualities of the work of Agustín Lazo, who participated in the international surrealist exhibition a few months later. Cardoza mentions the visual interpretation of the work of Giorgio de Chirico, as well as the use [...]

This article discusses Alfonso X. Peña, a painter who had decided to spend time in Europe to exhibit his work and offer his views of Mexico. The author states, “his work is characterized by color that preserves all the lights and all the [...]

Bandera de provincias [Flag of the Provinces] also took on the task of “discovering” José Clemente Orozco. The magazine commissioned Enrique Martínez Ulloa from Jalisco to write about Orozco’s painting. The author wrote three articles [...]

In this document, Ermilo Abreu Gómez reviews a book written by Antonio Luna Arroyo on the educational and cultural work of Narciso Bassols, who served as minister of Public Education at SEP (Secretaría de Educación Pública). In agreement with the [...]

This article discusses Diego Rivera’s commission to decorate the recently opened premises of the Centro Escolar Revolución, a school in Mexico City, and discusses how to transform the building into a school. The article also mentions that Rivera [...]

Roberto de la Selva—one of the earliest critics in the field of mural painting—set out to articulate a technical comparison between the work of Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, with a distinctly favorable emphasis on the latter. Describing [...]

Roberto de la Selva reviews Diego Rivera’s work and comments on the murals Rivera painted in the auditorium of the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria and at the SEP (Ministry of Public Education), both in Mexico City. De la Selva hints that these works [...]

Zuno begins his article by pointing out the different “contributions” that tapatíos [Guadalajarans] have made to José Clemente Orozco’s work. In contrast to other tapatíos, Zuno decided to emphasize the different planes of his mural and [...]

The news report describes the visit of President Lázaro Cárdenas’s aides to the town of Janitzio, in his native state of Michoacán, because of a monumental work which was intended to be built there. The report mainly describes the construction [...]

Rufino Tamayo takes a radical approach questioning the spirit of nationalism in the visual arts, and suggests that artists should focus on more universal values in their work. In this critical piece he reminds us that, at that time, painting enjoyed [...]

In this article Ixca Farías, a prominent artist and personality in the cultural and artistic milieu of Guadalajara, tells of the initiative at the Dirección de Educación del Estado de Jalisco [Jalisco Education Department] created to support [...]

This article describes the exhibition of prints by the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR) [League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists], which was held in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, in Valencia as well as in Madrid.  The [...]

José Guadalupe Zuno reviews a show by child painters in Guadalajara and broaches questions of pedagogy. He recognizes “the early abilities” of the children as well as the cinematographic effect of “the child’s imagination.” The author also [...]

In this document, Luna Arroyo analyzes the SEP (Secretaría de Educación Pública) Ministry of Public Education decree that created the Instituto Nacional Proletario [The National Proletariat Institute] for workers. He lists the institute’s [...]

This document provides a bibliographic reference for the poster exhibition at the Casa del Pueblo [House of the People]—located in the historic center of Mexico City— where labor union assemblies and meetings took place. Rosendo Salazar, an [...]

This document is a bibliographic reference for the poster exhibition presented in Mexico City, which also traveled to other places in the republic. This document also refers to the opening of the exhibition in the city of Puebla in December 1934. In [...]

This document contains a description of the inauguration of the 1935 poster exhibition in Morelia at the Centro Cultural Obrero [The Workers’ Cultural Center], which had previously been expropriated. It reproduces fragments of the speech by Roberto [...]

Augustín Yáñez shares his opinion of the show La Internacional infantil [The International Children’s Exhibition] held at the Universidad de Guadalajara and comprised of national and international children’s works. He defends their work: “ [...]

This document lists the activities of José Muñoz Cota, the director of the Department of Fine Arts for the SEP (Secretaría de Educación Pública) [Ministry of Public Education], as well as his aesthetic criteria for the visual and literary arts. [...]

This is a historical review of the visual arts in Jalisco since pre-Hispanic times: the tonaltecas and their pottery, essential links in the chain of “tradition,” through the Viceroy period when there were plenty of “European copies.” The [...]

This author describes the mural commission for the functionalist education center in Mexico City, with images accompanying his review. He emphasizes the collective nature of the works as well as the paintings’ subjects. The author applauds the [...]

Bandera de Provincias decided to “discover” José Clemente Orozco’s work, and commissioned writer Enrique Martínez Ulloa from the state of Jalisco to provide essays on his painting. The author wrote an essay in three parts on the revolutionary [...]

Bandera de Provincias [Flag of Provinces] decided that they too would “discover” José Clemente Orozco’s work, and commissioned [Enrique Martínez Ulloa], natural from the state of Jalisco, to provide essays on his painting. The author wrote an [...]

The text details the curriculum of the art schools for workers as well as the introduction of new subject matter. Supported by the Department of Fine Arts and the SEP, Ministry of Public Education, the staff would instruct the Mexican workers who [...]

Using the post-revolutionary education project in Mexico as a starting point, this article describes its functionalist schools and the reaction of the students. Santiago Larín compares the current pedagogical system with the one that existed during [...]

In this essay, the former governor of Jalisco, José Guadalupe Zuno, discusses government support of painting, stressing its modern style. He uses the opportunity to talk about Diego Rivera, emphasizing his cultural work rather than his artistic [...]

The article deals with the career of the painter García Cahero, emphasizing his participation in the Escuelas de Pintura al Aire Libre [Open-Air Painting Schools] as well as for the murals at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria. Fernando Leal says [...]

This document details the activities of the two American sisters, Marion and Grace Greenwood, in Morelia (Michoacán). It offers, in addition, a rough description of the murals shown at the Museo Regional de Michoacán [Regional Museum of Michoacán [...]

The article covers the initial stage of Máximo Pacheco’s career, emphasizing his “childlike sensibility,” “humble attitude,” and his role as Fermín Revueltas’ assistant in the “style of the Renaissance, in his humble work as a laborer [...]

This document touches upon the formation of the Architecture Council of Mexico City, as well as the protest that the Engineers’ Union made against the President of the Republic. The union argued for the transformation of the city through the [...]

This article covers the modern art exhibition in Jalisco that was held during the first anniversary of the magazine Bandera de Provincias. Watercolors, oil paintings, sculptures, and photographs by Raúl Anguiano, Jesús Guerrero Galván, Ixca Farí [...]

The article refers to the “revolutionary painter brigades” commissioned by the Departamento de Bellas Artes to represent “the Mexican socialist struggle” and the “philosophy of the new teaching” in various murals within official schools [...]

This article emphasizes the mining industry themes portrayed in the murals that the North American painter Ryah Ludins (1898–1957) was commissioned to paint in the Museo Regional Michoacano [...]

This brief article reports on the Centro de Experimentación Socialista [Center for Socialist Experimentation], which was attended by proletarian children in Mexico during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas. With the pedagogical goal of achieving a [...]

This monograph about the artistic production by Ramón Alva de la Canal makes a general evaluation of his paintings. It starts with his didactic activities in cultural missions, his relationship with the Estridentista group, and above all his [...]

For the writer Gastón Poulain, the “revolutionary” nature of José Clemente Orozco’s work had different nuances. He considers that in his œuvre there is neither “automatic register nor sensitive perception.” Poulain sees Orozco’s work [...]