Celia Calderón (1921-1969) was a Mexican artist best known for her

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

work but she was also noted for her oils and

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

s. She was a member of the Sociedad Mexicana de Grabadores, Taller de Gráfica Popular and the

Salón de la Plástica Mexicana Salón de la Plástica Mexicana (Hall of Mexican Fine Art; ''SPM'') is an institution dedicated to the promotion of Mexican contemporary art. It was established in 1949 to expand the Mexican art market. Its first location was in historic center o ...

Life

Celia Calderon was born in the state of Guanajuato in 1921 to Felix Calderón and Enedina Olvera. In 1942, she entered the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, where she became romantically involved with one of her professors, Julio Castellanos, who also influenced her artistic development. She also studied at the Escuela de las Artes del Libre, learning graphic art under Francisco Díaz de León. In 1950 she received a scholarship from the British Council to study at the Slate School of Fine Art in London. In 1957, she was invited by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

government to travel to China and study at the Beijing Artists’ Center where she also exhibited her work. Her last residence was General Molinos del Campo No. 53 in

Tacubaya Tacubaya is a working-class area of west-central Mexico City, in the borough of Miguel Hidalgo, consisting of the '' colonia'' Tacubaya proper and adjacent areas in other colonias, with San Miguel Chapultepec sección II, Observatorio, Daniel Ga ...

. She committed suicide on October 9, 1969, shooting herself in the head at the Academy of San Carlos.

Career

Calderón began her career teaching at the Academy of San Carlos in 1946 due to her impressive watercolor skills. She continued teaching throughout her career including various generations of artists at the Sociedad para el Impulso de las Artes and the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. She had her first individual exhibition in 1951, and during her lifetime, her work was presented in venues in Mexico, the United States, Canada, South America and various European countries. In 1947, she was invited to join the Sociedad Mexicana de Grabadores and in 1952, the Taller de Gráfica Popular. She was also a founding member of the

. In 1955 she won the Salón de Otoño of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.

Artistry

She is best known for her graphic work although she also produced important oils and watercolors. She also worked with xylography, metal and linoleum etching and intaglio. Her watercolor work was praised by art critic Justino Fernández, considered the father of Mexican art history. Her imagery mostly consisted of popular personages with her graphic work focusing on Mexican heroes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calderon, Celia 1921 births 1969 deaths Mexican engravers Mexican watercolourists Mexican women painters Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art 20th-century Mexican painters 20th-century Mexican women artists Women watercolorists Women engravers 1969 suicides Suicides by firearm in Mexico 20th-century engravers