Guadalajara, 1882 — 1972. He completed only four years of primary school and worked as a house painter before turning to painting. He fought in the Revolution and became a trusted officer of General Celestino Gasca; he was called up again during the delahuertista rebellion. He studied at the Academia de San Carlos with Mateo Herrera, Albarrán and Pacheco. His painting is impressionist and alternates thick impasto with thin layers of colour; his subjects are the Mexican landscape, tenement interiors, courtyards with washing places and old houses. His work is in the Andrés Blaisten Collection and in private collections in Mexico and abroad.
55.5 x 47.5 cm
Oil on canvas
ca. 1930
35 x 41.5 cm
Oil on canvas
ca. 1930
Training
- He only completed up to 4th grade of primary school; from childhood he showed a talent for drawing.
- He worked as a house painter and later as an apprentice in an artistic painting workshop.
- He enlisted in the Mexican Revolution as a private soldier, rising to become a trusted officer under General Celestino Gasca.
- Thanks to General Gasca, he was able to study at the Academia de San Carlos, where his teachers included Mateo Herrera, Albarrán, and Pacheco, among others, considered forerunners of the modern Mexicanist movement.
- His training was interrupted again when he was called up to fight the Adolfo de la Huerta uprising.
Style and Technique
- An original painter who avoided copying his teachers or following the trends of his era; spontaneity was his rule.
- Aligned with the Impressionist movement.
- A technique marked by thick impasto and heavy material buildup, combined with thin, soft layers of color and light brushstrokes.
- Central subject matter: the Mexican landscape, especially the interiors of tenement housing («vecindades»), courtyards with washbasins, and old houses, which he imbued with aesthetic beauty despite their worn appearance.
- He also painted outdoor and rural scenes.