Pablo Esteban O'Higgins (born Paul Higgins Stevenson; March 1, 1904 - July 16, 1983) was an American-Mexican artist, muralist and illustrator. Drawing of a mother and child by Pablo O'Higgins

Drawing of a mother and child by Pablo O'Higgins

Early life and education

Born in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

, O'Higgins was raised there and in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. In 1922 he abandoned his first career as a pianist and entered the Academy of Arts in San Diego. Within two years he'd become a student of

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

, assisting Rivera on his murals at the National School of Agriculture at Chapingo, and the Public Education Secretariat.

Mexico and murals

Like Rivera, O'Higgins became an active member of the

Mexican Communist Party The Mexican Communist Party ( es, Partido Comunista Mexicano, PCM) was a communist party in Mexico. It was founded in 1917 as the Socialist Workers' Party (, PSO) by Manabendra Nath Roy, a left-wing Indian revolutionary. The PSO changed its name ...

. He immigrated to Mexico permanently in 1924, joined the party in 1927, and maintained his party membership until 1947. His political illustrations for the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were ...

'' won him a year's study at the Academy of Art in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

on a Soviet Scholarship in 1933. In 1937, O'Higgins was the co-founder, with fellow artists

Leopoldo Méndez Leopoldo Méndez (June 30, 1902 – February 8, 1969) was one of Mexico's most important graphic artists and one of that country's most important artists from the 20th century. Méndez's work mostly focused on engraving for illustrations and othe ...

and

Luis Arenal Luis Arenal Bastar (born Teapa, 1908 or 1909 – died Mexico City, May 7, 1985) was a Mexican painter, engraver and sculptor. He was a founding member of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios, the Taller de Gráfica Popular and the S ...

, of the

Taller de Gráfica Popular The ''Taller de Gráfica Popular'' (Spanish: "People's Graphic Workshop") is an artist's print collective founded in Mexico in 1937 by artists Leopoldo Méndez, Pablo O'Higgins, and Luis Arenal. The collective was primarily concerned with using ...

("People's Graphic Workshop"). The Taller became inspiration to many politically active leftist artists; for example, American expressionist painter Byron Randall went on to found similar artist collectives after becoming an associate member. In May 1940 O'Higgins had the honor of being the only non-native Mexican artist with work included in the seminal "Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art" exhibit organized by the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

. In 1961 O'Higgins was awarded honorary Mexican citizenship for "his contributions to the national arts and education". One of his murals can be seen at the

Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market, Mexico City Abelardo is a masculine given name. It is an Italian form of the name ''Abelard''. Sometimes used as a variant of Abel. As a given name * Abelardo Aguilar, Filipino doctor and researcher * Abelardo Aguilú Jr. (c. 1870–c. 1940), Puerto Rica ...

. His 1945 mural for the Ship Scalers Union Hall in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

is installed in Kane Hall at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

in Seattle. The mural depicts Seattle's Ship Scalers Union's (SSU) history as a strongly anti-racist, anti-discriminatory, and progressive force in social politics. Among O'Higgins' students was the American graphic designer

Bob Cato Robert G. Cato (September 5, 1923 – March 19, 1999) was an American photographer and graphic designer whose work in record album cover design contributed to the development of music and popular culture for five decades. He was vice president o ...

, and artist and muralist

Marion Greenwood Marion Greenwood (April 6, 1909 – August 20, 1970) was an American social realist artist who became popular starting in the 1920s and became renowned in both the United States and Mexico. She is most well known for her murals, but she also pra ...

Drawing of a man carrying agave leaves by Pablo O'Higgins

References

External links

Works produced by Pablo O'Higgins at the Taller de Gráfica Popular
- Gráfica Mexicana {{DEFAULTSORT:OHiggins, Pablo 1904 births 1983 deaths American communists American emigrants to Mexico American muralists Naturalized citizens of Mexico Mexican muralists Mexican communists Artists from Salt Lake City Mexican people of Irish descent

Early life and education

Mexico and murals

Further reading

References

External links