Juan Nepomuceno Herrera

Happy Birthday Juan Nepomuceno Herrera!

Born in the city of Leon on May 28, 1818, Juan Nepomuceno Herrera was a Neoclassical painter. His work was precise and highly detailed.  Although we do not know if or where he received any formal art training, it is recorded that he taught at the Academy of San Carlos. Nearly 50 paintings exist by the artist and half are religious in subject matter. He also painted portraits and it is noted that one of his earliest was of Juan Cayetano Portugal, the Bishop of Michoacan (1857).

Enrique Echevarria

Happy Birthday Enrique Echevarria!

The Mexican artist Enrique Echevarria was born on July 14, 1923, in Mexico City to Spanish father, Marin Echevarria and Mexican mother, Florentina Vazquez. He studied art at La Esmeralda and also topography and hydrology at Escuela Superior de Ingeniera y Arquitectura. One professor noted his interdisciplinary approach stemmed from his desire to view things from many perspectives. Echevarria received a grant and studied in Spain and other European countries for several years.

After returning to Mexico, bringing with him a new perspective, Echevarria became involved in the Generacion de Ruptura, separating from the traditional figurative approach to experiment with abstraction.  Although he never totally left behind figurative work, he did experiment with Cubism, Impressionism and of course Abstractionism.

He helped establish the Galeria Prisse, in 1957, in an effort to allow contemporary Mexican artists the opportunity to display and sell their work, since they were essentially barred from exhibiting in the more traditional galleries and museums. His work was part of many exhibitions and collectives, not only in Mexico, but across the world. He won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1957 and was a guest speaker at Notre Dame University in Indiana (1966).  He also taught for a time at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Although his work was not well known at the time, it did become recognized after his death, resulting in a retrospective of his painting in 2003.

Rodolfo Nieto

Happy Birthday Rodolfo Nieto!

Rodolfo Nieto, born on July 13, 1936, in Oaxaca, was a painter who began his studies at La Esmeralda. He later apprenticed under Diego Rivera and subsequently became his assistant. In the 60's, Nieto traveled to Paris to develop his artistic style. He learned woodcarving and lithography there and became interested in folk art. Nieto combined his newly discovered techniques with simplified, whimsical, figures in a vein related to magical realism. He won the Biennale de Paris twice (1963 and 1968) for painting. His work was highly regarded in Europe, but not so when he returned to Mexico, causing a depression that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He met and married fellow artist Nancy Glenn and together they pursued their own art. She encouraged him to persevere, but he began to paint images indicating he was close to death...skulls and other imagery. Rodolfo died at the young age of 48, imploring his wife to keep his paintings, as they would be very valuable in years to come. She continues to paint using his now popular style.

Pastor Velazquez Hernandez

Happy Birthday Pastor Velazquez Hernandez!

Born on April 28, 1895, in San Matias Transfiguracion, Pastor Velazquez was known for his watercolor painting. He was taught by his father, Don Magdaleno Velazquez, who himself was a self-taught painter. Following his father's death, he finally did receive formal training at the Academy of San Carlos in 1923. He went on to become a master at the school for 32 years following his completion. His work concentrated on landscapes, portraiture and still life. He was the creator of the Mexican shield in 1941, winning with a watercolor "sketch".

Jose Maria Velasco Gomez

Happy Birthday Jose Maria Velasco Gomez!

This landscape artist was actually born on July 6, 1840, in Mexico City. Jose Velasco Gomez was considered a "polymath" or a person whose knowledge and expertise span many subject areas. Leonardo da Vinci was also a polymath...In addition to art, he also studied science, mathematics, zoology, botany, etc. at the Academy of San Carlos. After deciding to focus on art, Velasco Gomez was a pupil of famed Italian landscape artist Eugenio Landesio. Velasco became the most well known landscape painter in Mexican history. His paintings educated viewers about the geography of Mexico.  

His work falls into three categories: the academic years, French Impressionist influence, and his "personal" period. During each he created important works, but his masterpiece, which was repainted 7 different ways, is El Valle de Mexico (seen below), created during his association with the French Impressionists. 

He won several distinctions and awards during his lifetime. It has also been said that Jose Maria Velasco Gomez was the first post-Revolution painter "to be elevated as an exemplar of nationalism". The Jose Maria Velasco Museum, which houses and preserves his work, opened in Toluca in 1992.

Gustavo Montoya

Happy Birthday Gustavo Montoya!

Gustavo Montoya was born on July 9, 1893, in Mexico City, into a family within the Porfirio Diaz regime, making it necessary for them to flee and hide when the government fell during the Revolution. Against his father's wishes, Montoya wished to study art and in the end was allowed to enroll at Academy of San Carlos. He was married several times, the second wife was artist Cordelia Urueta, who accepted his proposal only on the condition that he move to Europe with her, where she had a diplomatic position in Paris. This allowed Montoya to study and cultivate his style in England, Italy and Switzerland, while living in Paris. After the couple divorced, he returned to Mexico to paint murals as well as canvases. His preferred subjects were the poor and downtrodden, children and Mexican street scenes.

Saturnino Herran

Happy Birthday Saturnino Herran!

This Mexican painter was born on July 9, 1887, in Aguascalientes. Herran received drawing lessons at age 10 and also took classes while enrolled at the Academy of Sciences. Later his family moved to Mexico City, where he took drawing and painting at the National School of Fine Arts, along with fellow students Diego Rivera and Roberto Montenegro.  His career focused on dignified paintings of indigenous Mexican people, endowing them with extreme strength and prowess. At the end of his life he realized his dream to paint a mural at the School of Arts and Crafts. Unfortunately this artist passed away too soon at the age of 31.