Julio Ruelas (June 21, 1870 – September 16, 1907) was a Mexican graphic artist, painter, draughtsman and printmaker. Ruelas was the principal illustrator of the ''
Revista Moderna'' magazine and is most associated with Mexican symbolism. A number of his works are on display at the
Museum of the City of Mexico
The Museum of Mexico City (Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico) is located at Pino Suarez 30, a few blocks south of the Zocalo, on what was the Iztapalapa Causeway, near where Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma II met for the first time. This building used ...
and in the Zacatecas museum. Artistically, he was noted for creating etched images depicting his own face, incorporating black, twisted lines to give an impression of being tormented.
Born in
Zacatecas
, image_map = Zacatecas in Mexico (location map scheme).svg
, map_caption = State of Zacatecas within Mexico
, coordinates =
, coor_pinpoint =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type ...
, he lived in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
from 1876, later attending the Colegio Militar and the Escuela de Bellas Artes. Around 1892, he departed and headed for
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...
, Germany, where Romanticism would profoundly influence his drawings and prints, the most important element of his work as an artist.
['']Art Encyclopedia
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of what ...
'' (2002). The Concise Grove Dictionary of Art. Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, Inc. He also studied under the academic painter
Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Robert le d ...
in
Danzig.
Ruelas returned to Mexico in 1895 but spent the last three years of his life in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, where he died from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
on September 16, 1907.
Notable works
*''El suplicio de la Reina Mora''
*''La domadora'' (1897)
*''Retrato de Rubén Campos''
*''El rapto'' (1901)
*''Antón'' (1901)
*''A la sombra de un hermes'' (1901)
*''Autorretrato con musa'' (1903)
*''Confiteor'' (1903)
*''Elfumios'' (1987)
*''Fauno tocando la flauta'' (1903)
*''Efluvios'' (1903)
*''Doncella sobre ave gigante'' (1903)
*''En el país de los gigantes'' (1904)
*''Romance en el país de los enanos'' (1904)
*''Mujer alacrán'' (1904)
*''En el país de los enanos'' (1905)
*''Auto de fé'' (1906)
*''Buitre herido'' (1906)
*''Los fuegos fatuos'' (ca. 1907)
*''La mendiga''
*''La escalera del dragón''
*''Esfinge''
*''La princesa cautiva''
*''La muerte llegó de improviso''
References
1870 births
1907 deaths
People from Zacatecas
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery
20th-century Mexican painters
Mexican male painters
Tuberculosis deaths in France
20th-century Mexican male artists
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