Héctor Xavier
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Héctor Xavier (1921 – July 3, 1994) was one of Mexico's most important sketch artists of the 20th century. Part of the
Generación de la Ruptura Generación de la Ruptura (Breakaway Generation) is the name given by art critic Teresa del Conde to the generation of Mexican artists against the established Mexican School of Painting, more commonly called Mexican muralism post World War II. It ...
, Xavier was one of the founders of the Prisse Gallery, which helped to break the hold that Mexican muralism artists had on the market in Mexico. He had his first exhibition, of paintings, in the late 1940s, but it was criticized as showing lack of drawing technique, this prompted Xavier to practice the discipline for nine hours a day and becoming specialized in it. However, he felt closer to writers and journalists than to other artists, with his work published in newspapers, magazines and books, rather than exhibited in Mexico via art shows. Except for acceptance into 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 ...
, he was disconnected from the art scene for much of his career and did not believe in donating his works to museums or other art institutions. For these reasons, there are no major collections of his work and much of it is lost.


Life

Héctor Xavier was born Héctor Xavier Hernández y Gallegos in
Tuxpan, Veracruz Tuxpan (or Túxpam, fully Túxpam de Rodríguez Cano) is both a municipality and city located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. The population of the city was 78,523 and of the municipality was 134,394 inhabitants, according to the INEGI census o ...
to Alfonso Hernández and Paula Gertrudis Gallegos. He often called himself the “son of an unknown soldier” as his father abandoned the family when he was very young and stopped using his surnames. His childhood was spent near the beaches and waters of the
Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
and he stated in an interview that this “awoke” his sensitivity due to the saline air and lack of winds. He stated that he knew his ability to draw since a young child, tracing his feet in the wet sands these same beaches. When he was sixteen, he left
Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...
with nothing and went to
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 ...
. To survive, he drew caricatures in the center of the city, and sold pottery, perfume knockoffs and herbal medicines. He attended the
Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" La Esmeralda or Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado (ENPEG) (English: National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking) is a Mexican art school founded in 1927 and located in Mexico City. History The history of the ENPEG start ...
only for six months as he organized a strike to demand more materials for students. It was his only formal training. He died on July 3, 1994 of respiratory failure in Mexico City.


Career

Xavier had his first exhibition as a painter at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1945. However, his work was heavily criticized as showing a lack of drawing ability. This prompted him to practice drawing with discipline from 9am to 6pm becoming specialized in it. However, since then all of his exhibition were outside of Mexico, starting in 1947, which included the IV Bienal de
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
, Brazil in 1961. Xavier started his career at a time when the style of the Mexican muralists was highly dominant. This style did not agree with Xavier and his work, like that of many younger artists, was shut out from traditional art venues. This prompted him and other artists such as Vlady Kibalchich Russakov to open the Prisse Gallery in 1952. This gallery is credited with allowing the Generación de la Ruptura to gain a foothold in the Mexican art market. However, the gallery did not last long, one reason being that Xavier left Mexico to travel to New York and around Europe for two years to visit museums, private collections and artists’ studios to broaden his artistic influences. One of his works while in Europe was the decoration of the Longueil Annel Chapel in France in 1953. As a sketch artist and illustrator, Xavier felt closer to writers and journalists than to other artists. His work appeared regularly in newspapers and magazines such as Sábado,
Unomásuno ''Unomásuno'' (English: ''One Plus One'') is a Mexican daily tabloid newspaper circulated in Mexico City. Formed in 1977 by former employees of Mexico City's daily newspaper ''Excélsior'', it became one of the leading leftist newspapers in M ...
, El Búho (of the newspaper
Excélsior ''Excélsior'' is a daily newspaper in Mexico City. It is the second oldest paper in the city after '' El Universal'', printing its first issue on March 18, 1917. History ''Excélsior'' was founded by Rafael Alducin and first published in Mexic ...
). He also created a number of series of works, some of which were published. Most of these are portraits of flora, fauna and the human body. Series of this type include Bestiario, of the animals of the
Chapultepec Zoo Chapultepec Zoo (Spanish: ''Zoológico de Chapultepec'') is a zoo located in Chapultepec Park; it is one of four zoos near Mexico City, and the best known Mexican zoo. It was founded July 6, 1923 by Mexican biologist Alfonso Luis Herrera using do ...
, Eróticos, a series of nudes, as well as Viejos and Rabinos which focused on flora and aquatic scenes. He was also fascinated by bodies in motion and drew dancers from Senegal along with famous ones such as
Pilar Rioja María del Pilar Rioja del Olmo (Torreón, Mexico, September 13, 1932) is a Mexican dancer who focused her career on Spanish dance. Biography Her training included mastering all branches of this dance: the bolero school, the folkloric, the classi ...
and
Rudolf Nureyev Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
. In 1958 an album of his work called Punta de plata was published with a prologue by
Juan José Arreola Juan José Arreola Zúñiga (September 21, 1918 – December 3, 2001) was a Mexican writer, academic, and actor. He is considered Mexico's premier experimental short story writer of the 20th century. Arreola is recognized as one of the first Lati ...
. He also worked on scenery for plays and illustrated books for
Efraín Huerta Efraín Huerta (June 18, 1914 – February 3, 1982) was a Mexican poet and journalist. Born and raised in the state of Guanajuato, he moved to Mexico City initially to start a career in art. Unable to enter the Academy of San Carlos, he attend ...
, Jaime Labastida and Oscar Oliva. As he was disconnected from much of the art world and was against donating his work to museums and other institutions, there have not been any major collections of his work, with the exception of a collection at the Museo de Arte de Sinaloa. Some are also in the hands of private collectors but much of his work has disappeared. However, he was accepted as a member of 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 ...
, an honor society for artists. Xavier was one of the teachers of artist Georgina Quintana.


Artistry

He is considered to be one of Mexico’s best sketch artists from the 20th century along with
José Luis Cuevas José Luis Cuevas (February 26, 1934 – July 3, 2017) was a Mexican artist, he often worked as a painter, writer, draftsman, engraver, illustrator, and printmaker. Cuevas was one of the first to challenge the then dominant Mexican muralism ...
and
Gilberto Aceves Navarro Gilberto Aceves Navarro (September 24, 1931 – October 21, 2019) was a Mexican painter and sculptor and a professor at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas and Academy of San Carlos. There have been more than two hundred individual exhibit ...
. He was most interested in portrait work, drawing animals, flora and the human figure. Xavier developed as an artist in the first half of the 20th century, when the Mexican School of Painting, or Mexican muralism, and the political ideology behind it, almost completely dominated the art produced in the country. However, he and other younger artists of the time felt that it was stifling. He is classified as one of the
Generación de la Ruptura Generación de la Ruptura (Breakaway Generation) is the name given by art critic Teresa del Conde to the generation of Mexican artists against the established Mexican School of Painting, more commonly called Mexican muralism post World War II. It ...
, who struggled to break from this tradition. He was mostly self-taught but major influence on his work came from his travels in Europe in the early 1950s. Here he was exposed to works of artists such as
Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...
and
Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (, ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern style characterized by a surreal elongation of faces, necks, and ...
as well as
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
. He also met Francisco de la Maza who exposed Xavier to pre Hispanic art, especially that of
Colima Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and ...
and the frescos and stele of
Bonampak Bonampak (known anciently as ''Ak'e'' or, in its immediate area as ''Usiij Witz'', 'Vulture Hill') is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The site is approximately south of the larger site of the people Yaxchilan ...
. He worked in ink, including Japanese ink, and silverpoint. In the drawing of fauna, there is much influence from
Georges Rouault Georges Henri Rouault (; 27 May 1871, Paris – 13 February 1958) was a French painter, draughtsman and print artist, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism. Childhood and education Rouault was born in Paris into a po ...
as well as traditional Oriental depiction. His later work in silverpoint shows influence from
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
and
Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. Biography Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tusc ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xavier, Hector 1921 births 1994 deaths Artists from Veracruz Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" alumni 20th-century Mexican artists