Rosete Montiel Mara de los ngeles

Valle Gracia Andrea Montserrat

Surrealism in Mexico
1924 was the year when Andr Breton published the Surrealist Manifesto, in which he and
other poets expressed the need of a new kind of art, especially after World War I. Breton,
influenced by Freuds work about psychoanalysis, aspired to free the imagination by
accessing the subconscious mind through techniques such as automatic drawing
1
. Paris was
the capital of the movement, but when the Second World War begun most of the artists
immigrated to America.
Some people see the Dada movement as a precursor to Surrealism, since them both
relished the possibilities of chance and spontaneity.
2
However, Surrealism was less
concerned with political issues and more focused on a positive philosophy
3
. Some of the
characteristics of the surrealist painting are the animation of unanimated objects, parts of
the human body, metamorphosis, symbols, oneiric realities and chaos.
Surrealism in Mexico
The artistic movement in Mexico started to grow some years later, with Frida Kahlo,
Leonora Carrington, Mara Izquierdo and Remedios Varo as the most representative
women artists of this period. What helped this movement to grow in Mexico was the great
amount of exiled surrealist artists that came from Europe and influenced the young artists.
The first gallery presenting only surrealist paintings in Mexico was commissioned by
Breton himself, and was held on January 17th, 1940. Octavio Paz was one of the most
important defenders of the movement.
In general, Mexican surrealist paintings follow the same pattern as the rest of the surrealist
paintings found in Europe, but there are details that distinguish it, such as the vibrant colors
in them and even the portraying of elements of the Mexican culture.

1
Arte: la gua visual definitiva (1900-1945)
2
Surrealism - Art History 101 Basics. Early 1920s to the Present.
http://arthistory.about.com/od/modernarthistory/a/Surrealism-Art-History-101-Basics.htm
3
Surrealism: Origins, Influences, History, Characteristics of Surrealist Art Movement, Founded by Andre
Breton. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/surrealism.htm#techniques
Dulce Mara Cruz Puebla , Surrealismo en Mxico. Revista de Revistas,Publicaciones Exelsior. 1996. No 4443.
pp. 28-29. http://www.angelfire.com/mb/danicito/surreali.htm
Rosete Montiel Mara de los ngeles
Valle Gracia Andrea Montserrat

Mexican Muralism
Mexican Muralism was the major art movement in Mexico during the 20th Century
4
and
was born in 1913; it was the result of a chaotic time in the country, a few years after the
revolutionary war started. The political situation was still unstable and what the artists
wanted was to unify the country to create a national identity
5
. The main topics in the
paintings are the Mexican revolution, Mexican history and a critical view of the politics of
the time.
The first modern mural was painted by Gerardo Murillo, who thought that Mexican art
should reflect Mexican life
6
This idea permeated most of the works that were later painted
by the three most important figures of the movement: Jos Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera,
and David Alfaro Siqueiros. Even though they are all considered muralists, each one had
his own beliefs and positions concerning Mexican politics, and therefore their work cannot
be framed into the same category with specific characteristics. Rivera, for example, painted
an idealized version of the revolution, since he was living in Europe at the time and never
lived the actual conflict; Orozco, in the other hand, painted the devastation that the
revolution left and is a very harsh critic of the time.
7

Lesser known women muralists also had a great participation in the movement. Elena
Huerta and Aurora Reyes Flores are the most important of the time. Reyes is considered to
be the first muralist woman, and she was not only a painter; she also liked to write poetry
and was Frida Kahlos friend
8
. Huerta was one of the few artists who lived through the

4
,
7
Mainero del Castillo, Luz Elena. El muralismo y la Revolucin Mexicana. Instituto Nacional de Estudios
Histricos de las Revoluciones de Mxico. 2013 http://www.inehrm.gob.mx/Portal/PtMain.php?pagina=exp-
muralismo-en-la-revolucion-articulo
5
Arte: la gua visual definitiva (1900-1945)
6
The Mexican Muralist Movement. San Bernardino County Museum. 2009.
http://www.sbcounty.gov/museum/media/press-kit/contretas/contreras-media-kit-mural-tradition.pdf


8
Zuiga Vzquez, Araceli. Espiral en retorno: Aurora Reyes.
http://www.escaner.cl/escaner86/mutaciones.html
Rosete Montiel Mara de los ngeles
Valle Gracia Andrea Montserrat

conflict, and in her paintings she portrays post-revolutionary Mexico and the ideals she
believed in; most of her work is in Coahuila, where she was born and raised.
9


9
Lpez Herrera, Sigfredo. Elena Huerta: El muralismo, su mayor aportacin a Coahuila. El Diario de
Coahuila, 2010 http://www.eldiariodecoahuila.com.mx/notas/2010/7/19/sociales-187834.asp