Andrea Gómez y Mendoza (November 19, 1926 - November 2012) was a Mexican graphic artist and muralist, a member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.

Life

Her maternal grandmother was Juana Belén Gutiérrez Chávez of the state of

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

, a liberal who ran a newspaper denouncing working conditions of miners in

Coahuila Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...

in the 1900s before the government shut it down. Her mother was Laura Mendoza. Her father was Rosendo Gómez Lorenzo from

Villahermosa Villahermosa ( , ; "Beautiful Town") is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Tabasco, and serves as the municipal seat (governing county) of the state. Located in Southeast Mexico, Villahermosa is an important city because of its ...

Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...

. Although born in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, her family moved to

Morelia Morelia (; from 1545 to 1828 known as Valladolid; Otomi language, Otomi: ) is a city and municipal seat of the municipalities of Mexico, municipality of Morelia in the north-central part of the state of Michoacán in central Mexico. It is both th ...

Michoacán Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo, is one of the 31 states which, together with Mexico City, compose the Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The stat ...

when she was young, where she eventually began art studies at the Universidad de San Nicolás. In 1940, she returned to Mexico City to continue her studies at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, where she remained for two years. She then went to study

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

at the Escuela de Artes del Libro under

José Chávez Morado José Chávez Morado (4 January 1909 – 1 December 2002) was a Mexican artist who was associated with the Mexican muralism movement of the 20th century. His generation followed that of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siq ...

. She traveled extensively through Italy, France, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, Armenia, Cuba, and the Soviet Union, where she studied fresco painting at the Stroganovskaya Uchilitsa in Moscow. Until her death, she lived in Temixco, Morelos and continued to create artworks, dedicating herself to painting portraits and studying Flemish painting.

Career

At school, Gómez met Mariana Yampolsky, who invited her to joun the

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

. She worked as an illustrator on various projects, including those of the National Indigenous Institute, which allowed her to travels to various parts of Mexico. She also worked with the Secretariat of Public Education to produce free textbooks and she worked with newspaper culture magazines such as El Nacional and México en la Cultura. In addition to graphic works, she created a number of fresco murals including ''Maternidad y El agua'' at the Hospital Civil in Ixmiquilpan, Hidalgo, ''México Indígena'' at the Instituto Nacional Indigenista in

Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...

, ''Latinoamérica'' in

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

and ''El Maíz'', a portable mural which was created for the Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares in Mexico City. She founded art centers such as the Casa de cultura del Pueblo and the Taller de Dibujo Infantil Arco Iris in Texmico, Morelos. In 1956, her graphic work ''La niña de basura'' won Mexico's National Engraving Prize. Another of her works called ''Madre contra la guerra'' from 1956, received international recognition. In 2011, the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, of which she was a member, hosted a retrospective of her work.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomez, Andrea 1926 births 2012 deaths Mexican muralists Mexican women muralists Artists from Mexico City 20th-century Mexican painters 20th-century Mexican women painters