Mexican painter, Maria Izquierdo was born on October 30, 1902, in San Juan de Los Lagos, Jalisco. She was raised by her grandparents, devout Catholics, after her father died when she was 5 years old. At age 14 Izquierdo was married by arrangement to a man some years her senior and had three children by the time she was 17.
She began to discover art after the family moved to Mexico City and she became a self-taught professional artist, leaving her husband to pursue her career. In the late 1920's she did attend Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes and later continued her studies with Rufino Tamayo, with whom she then became romantically involved. Another mentor was Diego Rivera and he described her as "one of the best artists in the academy". Known as the first Mexican woman to have her work exhibited in the US, she also exhibited in Paris and became the cultural ambassador for Mexico.
Izquierdo's art was normally classified as Surrealist, although she herself did not identify as such. Her color use was rich and bold, the subject matter often unusual. She painted altars, still life, portraits of women, circus performers, in a more poetic, personal manner rather than the political leanings of many other artists of her "time".
Maria Izquierdo's career was cut short when she suffered a stroke in the mid-1940's and again in the 50's, dying at age 53.
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