Leopoldo Méndez
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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 other print work generally connected to his political and social activism. His most influential work was connected to organizations such as the '' Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios'' and the '' Taller de Gráfica Popular'' creating propaganda related to the ideals of the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
and against the rise of
Fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
in the 1930s. Despite his importance in 20th-century artistic and political circles, Méndez was a relatively obscure figure during his lifetime. The reasons for this generally relate to the fact that he believed in working collaboratively and anonymously for the good of society rather than for monetary gain and because the socialist and communist themes of his work fell out of favor with later generations. He has received posthumous recognition with a major biography, and scholarship considers him to be the heir to graphic artist José Guadalupe Posada.Caplow, Deborah. ''Leopoldo Méndez: Revolutionary Art and the Mexican Print''. Austin: University of Texas Press 2007


Life

In general there is little written about the artist's personal life as he kept this separate from his career. In addition, there are few published photographs of the artist. Méndez was born on June 30, 1902, 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 ...
. His background was poor as one of eight children born to a father who was a shoemaker and a mother who was a farm worker of Nahua indigenous background from the State of Mexico. His father's side of the family was politically active. His paternal grandfather died fighting the French Intervention in Mexico. His father worked against the
Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori (; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915) was a General (Mexico), Mexican general and politician who was the dictator of Mexico from 1876 until Mexican Revolution, his overthrow in 1911 seizing power in a Plan ...
regime on the late 19th and early 20th century. His father and uncles worked as vendors in a mining town called El Oro until the political strongmen of the area forced them to leave, burning down their store. However, both his parents had died before Méndez was two years old. During his childhood he lived at his father's house, his grandmother's house and his Aunt Manuela's house, but was primarily raised by his aunt. Méndez says that he was told that he was ill-tempered and picked fights, especially with his brothers. As a child, he was the family gofer, as well a chaperone for his older sisters, which allowed him to see his neighbors struggling to make a living. Later he used these experiences in his art. He would also be strongly influenced by the Mexican Revolution, as the Decena Trágica happening when he was only ten years old. His interest in drawing began in primary school. He competed with another boy in his class as to who could draw better, with the topic being battleships. He also drew portraits of Venustiano Carranza both at school and at home, which was the topic of his first piece of artwork to be sold. Directly out of primary school, he entered the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City. His teachers included Saturninio Herrán, Germán Gedovius, Ignacio Rosas, Francisco de la Torre and Leandro Izaguirre. After three years at the academy, he left to attend the new Escuela de Pintura al Aire Libre opened by Alfredo Ramos Martinez in the Chimalistac area in the south of Mexico City. One complaint he had about both schools was that he was never permitted to paint movement, only stationary objects and landscapes without people or animals. He learned to draw movement illustrating periodicals, which he did to earn money to live on. He developed strong political leanings which influenced not only his art but other aspects of his life. They led to friendships with artists and writers such as with Manuel Maples Arce, Germán Cueto, Arqueles Vela, Fermín Revueltas Sánchez, Ramón Alva del Canal, Germán List Arzubide and others, forming a group called Los Estridentistas. It also gave him the opportunity to live in work in
Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexico, Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In 2020 census the city reported a population of 443,063 ...
,
Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...
from 1925 to 1927, which was a center of this movement. He stated in an interview with Elena Poniatowska what it was very Bohemian at the time and during this time his politics became more radical, focusing on the ideal of the Mexican Revolution, especially Emiliano Zapata. This coincided with the state government under General Jara, but when he fell out of power, Méndez moved back to Mexico City and joined the
Mexican Communist Party The Mexican Communist Party (, 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 to the ''Mexican Communist ...
. His time here and other parts of rural Mexico gave him an appreciation of the country's handcraft and folk art tradition, making him a collector during his life. Much of his life and work was dedicated to promoting leftist political causes, remaining faithful to the political beliefs of his youth in post-Revolution Mexico to a large degree. In 1930, he founded the Lucha Intellectual Proletaria and traveled to the United States to give presentations. In 1939, he received a
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
and moved to New York where he continued to associate with workers’ groups. One of these beliefs was that artists should work for the people and therefore, his financial situation was always modest. His role in the political activities of many artists and writers of his time was large but he tended to claim little individual credit and to stay in the background. In 1940s, he was under arrest for a few days after David Alfaro Siqueiros and his group assaulted
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...
’s house in
Coyoacán Coyoacán ( ; , Otomi: ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre- ...
, kidnapping and killing his secretary. The reason for this was that the attackers left “evidence” to frame the Taller de Gráfica Popular. However, Méndez was released with no charges. In 1946, he left the Mexican Communist Party, founding the Partido Popular in 1947. He and was a candidate for district representative in Mexico City with this party in the 1953. In 1958, he left the Partido Popular and supported
Adolfo López Mateos Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. Previously, he served as Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare, Secretary of Labor and Social ...
for president. His political efforts went international starting in the 1940s traveling to the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
in 1953. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, he focused on issues related to world peace. These efforts gained him the International Peace Prize from the World Council of Peace in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
in 1952. Méndez continued to work in both art and politics until February 1969 when he fell ill and died while working on a book dedicated to Mexican handcrafts and folk art. He left behind one son, Pablo Méndez.


Career and graphic design

Méndez's career mixed political activism, painting, art education and book design but is best known for his engraving work, creating over 700 during his lifetime. This engraving work started early for book and magazine illustration. In the 1920s, he began with two publications called Irradiador and Horizonte as part of his involvement with a political and artistic movement called Stridentism . In 1929, he began teaching under the Cultural Missions programs of the Mexican Secretariat of Public Education in
Jalisco Jalisco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in western Mexico and is bordered by s ...
and the
State of Mexico The State of Mexico, officially just Mexico, is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Colloquially known as Edomex (from , the abbreviation of , and ), to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is the mo ...
which included contributing to the El Sembrador and El Maestro Rural magazines. Both were aimed at farm communities and served as a sources of materials for teachers, so the use of graphics along with text was considered fundamental because of high illiteracy. In 1942, he published ''En el nombre de Cristo'' a series of seven lithographs about barbarism attributed to the Cristeros and the assassination of teachers. Méndez's change in political activity often led to a change in the publication he contributed to. For example, in 1946 he left the Mexican Communist Party and joined the Grupo Insurgente José Carlos Mariátegui, initiating collaboration with its official publication called El Insurgente. His first major body of work was created as a founding member of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR) begun in 1933. The group produced works and exhibited together as well as published its own magazine called Frente a Frente. During this period, Méndez's work became militant; believing that only art created to promote the interests of the working class had value. This coincided with much of Mexico's politics at the time under
Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...
. Méndez was able to change style of his prints to account for the materials being used and for his intended audience. However, his work is characterized by a distillation of the images into their essential components for impact. These images included pre-Hispanic,
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
and Baroque art of both Europe and Mexico as well as nineteenth century Mexican art and Mexican muralism. He generally focused on secular, rather than religious images as well as popular themes taking after the work of José Guadalupe Posada. While his work is mostly realistic, it has incorporated imaginative elements from
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
, Italian Futurism, Russian Constructivism,
German Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...
and
Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
. One influence generally missing from his work is Russian-style Social realism despite his socialist and communist politics.


Taller de Gráfica Popular

However, by 1937, Méndez had left LEAR, disappointed with the group's lack of activity. He founded a new group that year called the Taller de Gráfica Popular along with Pablo O'Higgins, Alfredo Zalce, Luis Arenal, Ignacio Aguirre, Isidora Ocampo and others. Like LEAR, its function was political solidly to the left but anti-Trotsky and allied with
Silvestre Revueltas Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez (December 31, 1899 – October 5, 1940) was a Mexican classical music composer, a violinist, and conductor. Life Revueltas was born in Santiago Papasquiaro in Durango, and studied at the National Conservatory of Mu ...
, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Lombardo Toledano and others. It was a collective work center producing paintings and engravings, creating realistic but simple designs with its more abundant engraving work. They considered artistic development inseparable from political development, mostly working with cultural and political institutions of similar views. It was most active during World War II, producing propaganda against
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
and his allies along with that against capitalism and the U.S. Méndez was central to the Taller, taking part in all its activities, supervising its production and doing most of the relations work with other organizations, such as unions and art galleries. Despite his importance, by 1959, political differences with the more ardent Communists of the Taller marginalized him and he formally resigned in 1961.


Exhibitions

Méndez had limited exhibitions during his career. His first major exhibition was in 1930, when he traveled to Los Angeles as a collaborative effort with Carlos Mérida. In 1945, he had an individual exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago, followed by one in 1946 at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura.


Publications

Méndez's greatest volume of work was produced in the latter 1940s, when he worked compulsively and sold it for very low prices. At this time many American museums and private individuals from the U.S., Mexico and Europe purchased his prints. This has resulted in his work scattered among various collections including those of Carlos Monsiváis and the Graphic Arts Institute of Oaxaca, and of various institutions in Chicago, New York,
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
,
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
and
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, mostly in graphic arts museums.


Murals

Méndez worked on two notable murals during his career. In 1946, he created one mural with Pablo O'Higgins called ''La materidad y la asistencia social'' located at the Clínica No. 1 of the
Mexican Social Security Institute The Mexican Institute of Social Security (, IMSS) is a Federal government of the United Mexican States, governmental organization that assists public health, pensions and social security in Mexico operating under the Secretariat of Health (Mexic ...
. He created an engraving mural of José Guadalupe Posada in 1956.


Political art

His political graphics work waned after 1950 as political art was becoming devalued and his work less collected. However, he had begun to create engravings for the Mexican cinema, with a series for the film ''Río Escondido'' by Emilio Fernández, then others such as ''Pueblerina'' (1948), ''Un día en la vida'' (1949), ''El rebozo de Soledad'' (1949), M''emorias de un mexicano'' (1950), ''La rebelión de los colgados'' (1953) and ''La rosa blanca'' (1959). For the film '' Macario'' by Roberto Gavaldón, he designed the images of God, death and the Devil.


''Fondo Editorial de la Plástica Mexicana''

In 1958/1959 Méndez left the ''Taller de la Gráfica Popular'' due to ideological differences and founded a new publishing concern called the Fondo Editorial de la Plástica Mexicana along with Manuel Álvarez Bravo, Carlos Pellicer, Rafael Carrillo Azpeitia and Ricardo J. Zevada. The first book published by the organization was ''La pintura mural de la Revolución Mexicana'', followed by ''Los maestros europeo de la Galería de San Carlos de México'' and ''José Guadalupe Posada, ilustrador de la vida mexicana''. It became a major art book publishing company producing several high-quality books about
Mexican art Various types of visual arts developed in the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follows the history of Mexico, divided into the prehispanic Mesoamerican era, the New Spain, colonial period, with the per ...
while he directed it. When he died, he was working on a book about
Mexican handcrafts and folk art Mexican handcrafts and folk art is a complex collection of items made with various materials and intended for utilitarian, decorative or other purposes. Some of the items produced by hand in this country include ceramics, wall hangings, vases, fu ...
. The last major organization that Méndez founded during his lifetime was the '' Academia de Artes de México'' in 1968.


Legacy

Méndez was part of a generation of artists that emerged in the 1920s and played an important role in the culture and politics of Mexico after the Mexican Revolution. However, he has been a relatively obscure figure since during his career for two reasons. One was that he remained faithful to the idea that artists should work collaboratively and anonymously so he did not seek fame like others from his generation did. A second reason is that his socialist ideas, his association with the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
and
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
make him seem less relevant to the generations that followed him. During his lifetime, his only formal recognitions included one of his books, ''Incidentes melódicos del mundo irracional'', receiving a local prize in 1944, the first Premio Nacional de Grabado in Mexico City in 1946 and the International Prize of Peace as a member of the Taller de la Gráfica Popular in 1952. In 1962, the Museo Nacional de Arte Moderno exhibited a retrospective of his work. He was also honored at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes the same year. Since his death, he has received some recognition. Mexican academic research generally ranks him as high as other artists of the 20th century such as
Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...
and José Clemente Orozco, but little documentation of his life exists. In 1971, David Alfaro Siqueiros included a portrait of Méndez along with another engraving great José Guadalupe Posada at his Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros in Mexico City. Another early homage was an exhibition of his work at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in the 1970s. In 2002, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, writer Carlos Monsivais sponsored a conference on Méndez's work at the Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL). The same museum held a retrospective of his work in 2003. The Taller de la Gráfic Popular also organized an exhibition in honor of the 100th anniversary of his birth. In 2012, the Museo de Artes Gráficas in
Saltillo Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all connected by a major railroad and high ...
held a retrospective of his work. However, there remains no museum dedicated to his work and the only formal catalog was created by the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1977. Despite his obscurity, he is generally regarded as one of Mexico's most important graphic artists and one of the most important artists of the first half of the 20th century. Mexican academia also considers him to be the heir of José Guadalupe Posada, who he admired greatly.


External links

* Listings for over 340 works produced by Leopoldo Méndez during his time at the Taller de Gráfica Popular can be viewed a
Gráfica Mexciana


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendez, Leopoldo 1902 births 1969 deaths Mexican artists Members of the Academia de Artes