Ángel Zárraga (y) Argüelles (August 16, 1886 in

Victoria de Durango Durango City (, stp, Korian), officially Victoria de Durango is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Durango. The city, which is located in Northern Mexico has a population of 654,876 as of the 2015 census, and sits at an altitude ...

– September 22, 1946) was a Mexican painter. He was a founding member of the cultural organization '' El Ateneo de la Juventud''. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Zárraga was born the son of the physician Dr. Fernando Zárraga and his wife Guadalupe Argüelles in the ''Barrio de Analco'' of Durango. While attending the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, he made his first contacts with the prevailing artistic and intellectual scene, and later studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (ENBA). His family made possible for him a study trip to Europe in 1904, where he visited and exhibited in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. He also visited courses at

the Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

. In 1906 he exhibited some of his pictures in the Museo del Prado, and in 1907 in an exhibition of the ENBA. He participated in the 1909

Biennale di Venezia The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

and exhibited in the Salon at the Piazzale Donatello,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. In 1911 he moved to France for good, and he only returned to Mexico once at the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

for a short time. From 1914 Zárraga painted in a

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

styleLe Bulletin de la vie artistique, Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1 December 1924, pp. 481-484
/ref> and after 1921 his work was influenced by Cézanne and

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/ Proto-Renaissance period. G ...

. For example, his 1922 painting '' Girl with Cherry Tart'' exhibits Cubist tendencies. He also painted

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s at the Château de Vert-Cœur and in the

Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris Cité may refer to: Places * Cité (Paris Métro), the metro station on the ''Île de la Cité'' * Cité (Quebec), type of municipality in Quebec * Citadel, the historical centre of an old city, originally fortified * Housing estate A hou ...

, and decorated the Mexican embassy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

. He also exhibited at the

Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...

, as well as in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. As a result of the collapse of the international art market he lost his sponsors and became depressed. During

he returned to his home country in 1941, where he painted murals at the ''Club de Banqueros'' and in

Monterrey Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady of Monterrey ( es, Catedral Metropolitana de Nuestra Señora de Monterrey) also Monterrey Cathedral is the main Catholic church and home of the Archdiocese of Monterrey. It is located in the capital of the st ...

.''Ángel Zárraga y Argüelles''
at ''Biografías y Vidas'' .''Ángel Zárraga''
He died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

.''Angel Zárraga , 1886-1946''
Museo Andrés Blaisten. A museum of contemporary art in Durango is named after him.
Ángel Zárraga - The Naked Dancer - 1907-09.jpg, Angel Sarraga. Nude ballerina, between 1907 and 1909 Ángel Zárraga - The Woman and the Puppet - 1909.jpg, «Woman and puppet», 1909 Ángel Zárraga - The Gift - Google Art Project.jpg, «In», 1910 Ángel Zárraga - The old man with the Scapular - Google Art Project.jpg, «The old one with the stick» Рамон_Наварро.jpg, Picture of

Ramon Novarro José Ramón Gil Samaniego (February 6, 1899 – October 30, 1968), known professionally as Ramon Novarro, was a Mexican-American actor. He began his career in silent films in 1917 and eventually became a leading man and one of the top box ...

1929 (Óleo sobre lienzo) 1926-circa.-Ángel-Zárraga-La-futbolista-rubia.jpg, «Blonde football player», 1926 Three_players_with_beret._214.3_х_124.5_х.,м._Частное_собрание.jpg, Three players with beret, 1921 Fotabl-feminin.jpg, «Football players», 1922 File:Ángel-Zárraga.-El-sentido-de-la-creación.jpg, «Young football player», 1926

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zarraga, Angel 20th-century Mexican painters Mexican male painters Mexican muralists Artists from Durango People from Durango City 1886 births 1946 deaths Olympic competitors in art competitions 20th-century Mexican male artists