Nunik Sauret

Happy Birthday Nunik Sauret!

Woman printmaker Nunik Sauret was born in 1951, in Mexico City. She studied printmaking at La Esmeralda. Although she drew and painted also, her focus is printing. In addition to engraving, Sauret worked in mezzotint, etching, aquatint and drypoint. Eva Laura Moraga was one of the feminist artist's pupils.

Her work has been displayed in Mexico and elsewhere. She was a member of  Polvo de Gallina Negra,(Black Hen Powder)  the first Mexican feminist artist group, formed in 1983. The print below is titled "Traces".

https://www.gob.mx/imr/galerias/exposicion-huellas-de-nunik-sauret

Santiago Rebull

Happy Birthday Santiago Rebull!

Born in 1829, Santiago Rebull was a Mexican painter from Mexico City. He studied at San Carlos Academy beginning at age 18 and later became a teacher there with famed students such as Diego Rivera. La Muerte de Marat gained him the scholarship to study at Accademia di San Luca in Italy for 7 years. He painted portraits of several famous Mexican figures including Porfirio Diaz. Rebull also did mural work. His masterpiece is considered to be La Muerte de Marat (The Death of Marat).

Fernando Leal

Happy Birthday Fernando Leal!

Born on February 26, 1896, Fernando Leal was one of the initial figures of the muralist movement. He was born in Mexico City. Leal studied painting first at the Academy San Carlos then moved to Escuela al Aire Libre de Coyoacan after being "discovered" in Coyoacan by the Secretary of Education, Vasconcelos. He enlisted Leal to paint a mural on the walls of the Preparatory School with other artists (Rivera, Amado de la Cueva, David Siquieros, etc.) to attempt to create a new identity for Mexico. Many other murals followed this first one.

In addition to mural painting, Leal was also an engraver, lithographer and canvas painter. He painted religious works, traditions of the popular culture, rural scenes and is regarded as the first to include indigenous themes in monumental works. He is also thought to be one of the first artists to create small "mock-ups" of his planned larger works. His use of color was light and bright, and his style hovered between Baroque and Classical. He taught at the Academy of San Carlos and was director at Coyoacan.

Below is the Appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe, located at the Tepeyac Chapel at the Villa de Guadalupe.

Ignacio Ortiz

Happy Birthday Ignacio Ortiz!

Born in 1934, Ignacio Ortiz is a painter from La Piedad, Michoacan, but moved to Monterrey at age twelve, where he developed an interest in painting. He was invited to attend classes at a school, studying with Spanish painter Carmen Cortes. He attended Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon and then La Esmeralda, working with famed muralists David Siquieros, Diego Rivera and Pablo O'Higgins. After graduation he returned to Monterrey to become a teacher at Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon. 


He then studied in Prague and Sweden, living and working in Europe for a time on scholarship. He returned to Mexico A great admirer of women, Ortiz' art has focused on them as a central theme. Pablo Picasso was an obvious influence on the contemporary, flat, planar canvases he painted. He has exhibited his work all over the world. In addition to painting, teaching has been central to his career. He has taught at the same Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon where he received his first art degree, helped develop the art program and was appointed director, He has also taught at La Esmeralda and at Universidad Veracruzana.

Ortiz has vowed to never stop creating his art. In his words when he does not paint he "dies a little".

Juan Quezada Celado

Happy Birthday Juan Quezada Celado!

This Mexican potter was born May 6, in 1940, in Chihuahua. Juan Quezada Celado was born into a poor family in the tiny village of Tutuaca, later relocating to nearby Mata Ortiz. Quezada did not like school, instead preferred to draw and paint, and refused a scholarship to art school. Instead he worked the railroad to help support his family.  He is known for the similarities of his work to the Mimbres and Casa Grandes** pottery, which he discovered in caves and alcoves in the mountainous region surrounding his home. He collected the examples to study and eventually worked out how to create them himself, even discovering the use of human hair produced brushes for the finest lines.  After his work was discovered by Spencer MacCallum in a shop in Deming, New Mexico, on the Mexican border,  he began a business with the anthropologist. Quezada taught his art and technique to family and friends and the community of Mata Ortiz which became successfully known for this style of pottery.

The pots are created using the coil method. they are painted with a slip (liquefied clay) and then burnished with a stone, allowing for a more fine line in the decoration. Then the wares are fired in a saggar with cow manure, creating a smoky effect. Finally they are decorated with the designs and symbols for which he is known. He creates varied shapes and sizes. Unlike the horizontal decorations of the ancient pottery, Quezada has developed a diagonal overlap of designs which suggest movement on the pieces.

Although he has achieved international fame and recognition and his work sells for thousands of dollars, he continues to live a rural existence on a ranch in Northern Mexico. He has eight children, most of whom are in the business with him.

** Casa Grandes: (also known as Paquime) The prehistoric indigenous Mogollon culture from the area neat Chihuahua, Mexico. 

Rodolfo Morales

Happy Birthday Rodolfo Morales!

This Zapotec Native American was born in the small village of Ocotlan de Morelos today, in 1925. He became an art teacher after studying at San Carlos Academy, in Mexico City, a career he held for 32 years. His collages and paintings are described as dream-like, executed in bright colors and focusing on women in village scenes and magical realism. His indigenous roots come forth in his work and Marc Chagall is an obvious influence.

In 1985, Morales was able to quit teaching and dedicate his life to his art and restoration of the buildings in his hometown. An interesting note...he began each day by creating a small collage that then would be sold to help fund his restoration foundation. Morales was dedicated to a variety of humanitarian efforts: establishing a computer center for youth, distribution of AIDS education, planting copal trees for beautification as well as providing sculptural wood for artisans, etc.

While he concentrated primarily on painting and collage, he did create murals and sculpture as well, and one of my favorites is pictured below.  The brightly colored pillars depict "Brides".

Guillermo Ceniceros

Happy Birthday Guillermo Ceniceros!

Born May 7, 1939, Guillermo Ceniceros was a painter and muralist from the tiny village of El Salto. His father made wooden toys and furniture. At age fourteen he studied industrial drawing at Fabricacion de  Maquinas S.A. where he became acquainted with several artists. His study there helped him become well versed in geometry, composition and form. Later he enrolled at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León, graduated in 1958 and married artist Esther Gonzalez.

He got his start assisting other artists, most importantly David Sisquerios, who taught him traditional Mexican figurativism. His focus was landscapes and the female figure, often described in geometric shapes. His work has been termed subtle, gentle. He has created nearly 20 large scale murals and displayed his work in hundred of exhibitions.

 Ceniceros has won several awards, the keys to the city of Durango and a museum dedicated to his work: Museo de Arte Moderno Guillermo Ceniceros, is located in Durango as well.

I love his use of figures to create a sun-like mask in the painting below!