Les Peintres Mexicains, 1910-1960

After centuries of a rich and complex culture, Mexico seemed to have lost its originality after the Spanish conquest. Its tormented colonial history came to an end in 1910 with the outbreak of a great revolution at the end of which the country recovered its dynamism. In order to provide access to the greatest number of people, education was developed, elitist art was rejected and engraving and mural painting were favoured.

In public places, Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros created vast flamboyant frescoes that revolutionised aesthetics and surprised the world. The more reserved painter Carlos Mérida, the engraver Leopoldo Méndez and the sculptor Germán Cueto all exalted popular culture without renouncing the achievements of European or local avant-gardism. This general movement did not hinder the activity of independent creators who were sometimes close to surrealism and worthy heirs to Posada's joyful parades of skeletons, including Jean Charlot, María Izquierdo, Rufino Tamayo, and Frida Kahlo. Finally, the 1950s saw a number of young artists - José Luis Cuevas, Enrique Echeverría, Manuel Felguérez and their friends - begin to break free from the authority of elders who were struggling to renew themselves.

This book offers a panorama of half a century of Mexican painting.