Sarah Jimenez Vernis (February 3, 1927 – March 13, 2017) was a Mexican artist known for her political graphic work in the mid 20th century, especially with the Taller de Gráfica Popular, earning her membership in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. After her time with the Taller, her career shifted to teaching, and her work became mostly forgotten. However, there have been efforts to revive interest in it.
Background
Jiménez Vernís was born on February 3, 1927, in
Piedras Negras, Coahuila
Piedras Negras ( ) is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Coahuila. It stands at the northeastern edge of Coahuila on the Mexico–United States border, across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass ...
in the north of Mexico. She spent her first years growing up there, near the United States border until her family moved to
Córdoba, Veracruz
Córdoba, known officially as Heroica Córdoba, is a city and the seat of the municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It was founded in 1618.
The city is composed of 15 barrios (neighborhoods) bounded to the north by Ixhu ...
, where she received her primary and middle school education at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios.
Her father, José Guadalupe Jiménez, was a doctor with Mexico's railroad system and participated in 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 ...
. He met her mother, Sarah Vernís, on a train during the war. He served as a medic for the Carranza army. The couple had seven children, Alfonso, Alberto, Guadalupe, Concepción, Mario and Ofelia, along with Sarah.
Jiménez Vernís began drawing while in middle school and also learned to play the piano. Her father called her “my little pot painter.”
She moved to Mexico City in 1947 to live with an aunt and a paternal grandmother. At first her father required her to study business and shorthand for three years, but then she transferred to the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" to study art, staying there until 1953. Her teachers included Nefero, Santos Balmori, Isidoro Ocampo, Fernando Castro Pacheco,
Erasto Cortés Juárez
Erasto Cortés Juárez (August 26, 1900 – December 8, 1972) was a Mexican artist and a founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.
Life
He was born in Tepeaca, Puebla to Reynaldo Cortés and Soledad Juárez. In 1916, he entered th ...
Arturo Estrada Hernández
Arturo Estrada Hernández (born July 30, 1925) is a Mexican painter, one of a group of Frida Kahlo’s students called “Los Fridos.” Estrada is mostly known for his mural work, which remains faithful to the figurative style and ideology of Me ...
and Raúl Anguiano. The last left his class to her when he went to Europe. Her classmates included Ignacio Aguirre,
Luis Arenal Bastar
Luis Arenal Bastar (1908 or 1909 – May 7, 1985) was a Mexican painter, engraver and sculptor. He was a founding member of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios, the Taller de Gráfica Popular and the Salón de la Plástica Mexic ...
Leopoldo Méndez
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 othe ...
and Andrea Gómez.
Jiménez Vernís traveled extensively in Mexico as well as to
Yugoslavia
, common_name = Yugoslavia
, life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation
, p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia
, flag_p ...
and Italy. She was invited to the former
Soviet Union
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 ...
twice in 1967 and 1974 to accompany Leopoldo Mendez’s portable mural.
She lived in a small home near the Monumento a la Raza 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 ...
. She died on March 13, 2017, at the age of 90.
Career
Although she studied sculpture during her time at La Esmeralda, her artistic career was mostly focused on engraving with some drawing and painting.
In 1954 she participated in the creation of a mural at the Escuela Belisario Dominguez, with her section dealing with the dead soldier of the Mexican Revolution. During this time her father died but she completed her work before heading to Córdoba to pay her respects.
Jiménez Vernís began exhibiting her work in 1957. She joined the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP) in 1963, when that organization was at its height, entering with friend Adolfo Quintero. What she liked about the TGP was the contact with workers, farmers and students that the artists had. Much of her work with the organization was related to making flyers and other announcements for political events and for unions. She left the organization four years later in 1967, shortly before the death of Leopoldo Méndez, because of internal conflicts. However, she still believes that it or something like it is still needed in Mexico to speak for poor workers.
After leaving the Taller, Jiménez Vernís began a teaching career, first at the Escuela de Iniciación Artística Núm 1 run by INBA and then at the Casa del Lago in Chapultepec Park, from which she retired in 1989.
Her work has been shown in both Mexico and abroad with major exhibitions at the Biennial of Liubliana, Yugoslavia in 1957, the Casa de las Américas 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.Dry Point in Pío de Capri, Italy in 1972 and a collective tribute to Leopoldo Méndez.
She received grants for her work from the
Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes
The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, ), located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the Mexican institution in charge of coordinating artistic and cultural activities (both at the political and the educati ...
for four years.
The artist’s work can be found in public and private collections in both Mexico and abroad, especially in the United States and Europe. She sold most of her works in Texas to raise money for the medical bills of one of her sisters. For this reason a number of important pieces, are in this state, for example her famous portrait of
Emiliano Zapata
Emiliano Zapata Salazar (; 8 August 1879 – 10 April 1919) was a Mexican revolutionary. He was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution of 1910–1920, the main leader of the people's revolution in the Mexican state of Morelos, and the insp ...
National Museum of Mexican Art
The National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) is a museum featuring Mexico, Mexican and Chicano art and culture. It is located in Harrison Park in the Lower West Side, Chicago, Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, Chicago, Illinois. The museum ...
also holds work of hers. The Museo Nacional de la Estampa in Mexico City holds a series of works she did in the 1960s in Havana on the
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...
.
Although she was admitted to the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, along with various other artists of the Taller de Gráfica Popular, her work became forgotten in the latter 20th century. There have been efforts to revive interest in it. In 2008, her work was featured at the Museo Mural Diego Rivera to help promote women artists of
Frida Kahlo
Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...
’s generation. In 2014, the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana held a retrospective of her work of over fifty works, which was then sent to tour in her native state of Coahuila.
Artistry
Jiménez Vernís has mostly specialized in graphic works, as part of her political activity. In her youth, her work was very confrontational.
She never belonged to a political party but her graphic work reflects the ideals of the left. Her work focuses on social, political and economic issues especially those related to farmers and workers. She traveled Mexico extensively to capture images related to the daily life of the country.
Jiménez Vernís believed that the work of organizations like the Taller de Gráfica Popular is necessary, but says most artists are no longer interested in social and political work.