Arnulfo Mendoza

Happy Birthday Arnulfo Mendoza!

Arnulfo Mendoza Ruiz was born on August 17, 1954, in Teotitlan de Valle, Oaxaca, a town
known for rug weaving. He trained in his family workshop beginning at the age of nine. He studied fine arts at Universidad Autonoma Benito Juarez de Oaxaca and then helped found the Taller Rufino Tamayo in 1974.

In addition to designing and weaving his creations, Mendoza also dyed the silk and wool he used. It has been noted that he was partial to the reds obtained from the cochineal insect.

Mendoza was responsible in organizing and coordinating several large international exhibits and his work has been included in over 50 individual and collective exhibits all over the world. He was declared a grand master of Mexican folk art by  Fundacion Cultural Banamex.

Arnulfo Mendoza died of a heart attack at age 59.

Juan Soriano

Happy Birthday Juan Soriano!


Child prodigy, Juan Soriano, was born on August 18, 1920. He began his art career working with artist Alfonso Martinez in 1933, at age 13, in the Expressionist and Neo-Baroque styles. He went on to work with several other artists, even traveling to live and work in Europe a few times, and became a painter, sculptor and also did theater work.

 Soriano has taught art at a few institutions including La Esmeralda and Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. He won many honors and awards and numerous accountings of his life and work have been written. His paintings have been displayed all over the world and he has monumental sculptures at sites in Mexico as well as Europe.

His art included not only paintings and sculptures, but also ceramics, graphic arts and the creation of tapestries, costume and set design for theater. He felt art should not be political and even experimented with abstract art.

Pajaro con Semillas (Bird with Seeds)

Carlomagno Martinez

Happy Birthday Carlomagno Martinez!

Ceramicist, Carlomagno Martinez, was born today in 1965, in a town known for pottery, San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca. He began sculpting clay when he was just a young boy. He uses the "barro negro" or black clay technique of the region, dating back to the pre-Hispanic period, to create figures based on legendary and mythological characters. In addition to his figures he has also created ceramic wall pieces and murals.

In his late teens he worked in Rufino Tamayo's workshop, honing his skills. From this experience he was granted a scholarship to study in the US from the US Embassy in Mexico. He has taught youngsters in his hometown and is currently the director for the Museo Estatal de Arte Popular de Oaxaca, dedicated to the handcrafts of the area. He has received several recognitions for his work. He has shown his work in the US, Mexico and even Europe.

Martinez strives not to repeat the same figure twice, ensuring a unique quality for each piece. His work is fired in an underground kiln in a reduction process, sealed tightly to allow limited oxygen in the interior, allowing the clay to blacken as it fires.

Tina Modotti

Happy Birthday Tina Modotti!

Although Tina Modotti was born in Italy in 1896 on August 16 or 17, she spent the last 20 plus years of her young life (died at age 45) living in Mexico. She was an actress, model, activist and a fine arts photographer. She was closely associated with photographer Ed Weston, who helped develop her photographic talent, as well as Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

Modotti and Weston opened a photography studio in Mexico City, blending their individual tastes and talents, His being the landscape and folklore of Mexico, while she gravitated toward the people. She became a favored model as well as photographer for the mural movement. Her work became increasingly political with her liaisons with figures in the Communist party. She was eventually exiled from Mexico and traveled around Spain, Germany and Russia before returning to Mexico under an alias. She died at age 45 under what some believed suspicious circumstances, but eventually was ruled congestive heart failure.

Angel Zarraga

Happy Birthday Angel Zarraga!

Mexican painter, Angel Zarraga, was born on August 16, 1836, in Durango. His father was a physician. He became interested in art early on and attended Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes before going to Europe for further study, in 1904. In Europe he exhibited in Belgium, Spain, France and Italy, returning to Mexico only sporadically and moved to France in 1911. Cezanne and Giotto were influences for his painting.

At the outbreak of World War II, in 1941, Zarraga returned to Mexico to live and worked with the mural movement, painting several murals. There is a museum for contemporary art dedicated to Angel Zarraga in Durango, Mexico. His painting below is titled "The Gift".

Marysol Worner Baz

Happy Birthday Marysole Worner Baz!

Marysole Worner Baz was born on August 17, 1936, in Mexico City. She became a self-taught painter and sculptor and truly came into her own in Paris in the 50's.

Although she was a contemporary to the Generacion de la Ruptura, she was more closely aligned to the group of European expats in the area at the time since she did spend so much time in Paris before returning to Mexico. Unfortunately alcoholism stifled her artistic work for a time until she successfully entered rehab. Later in her career she experimented with other media such as kinetic and installation sculpture.

Jose Agustin Arieta

Happy Birthday Jose Agustin Arieta!

August 29, 1803 was the birth date for the Mexican genre artist, Jose Agustin Arieta. Although he was born in Tlaxcala, he grew up in, and spent most of his life in Puebla. He was a genre painter, also known for his extremely detailed and thoughtful still life of favorite foods and commonplace items. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Puebla and then at the Academy of San Carlos. 

He created his paintings in his own workshop and slowly mastered drawing and painting techniques, using the vivid colors of fruit, exotic food, the highly reflective qualities of glass and the natural aspects of various animals (chickens, rabbits, etc) to characterize his work. His genre scenes depict everyday Mexican characters such as priests, soldiers, water carriers and beggars. He also painted important figures in society.

Still Life with Fish and Pumpkin