José Chavez Morado

Fresco "The Conquest of Energy" by José Chávez Morado at the UNAM, Mexico City.

José Chávez Morado (born January 4, 1909 in Silao , Guanajuato , † December 2, 2002 in Guanajuato ) is a Mexican artist .

Life

From 1925 to 1932 he was in the USA and worked as a salmon fisherman, fruit picker and dishwasher. He attended art classes at the Chouinard School of Art in Los Angeles . After returning to Mexico City in 1932, he attended evening classes at the Academia de San Carlos . From Francisco Díaz de León he learned the art of woodcut. As a drawing teacher, Chávez Morado taught at various schools.

In 1933 he became department head for graphics at the Ministry of Education. From 1933 to 1938 he worked in the theater section of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists, LEAR). From 1938 to 1942 he was a member of the Taller de Grafica Popular (Workshop of Folk Graphic Artists, TGP). Together with his wife Olga Costa he founded the Galería Espiral . From 1945 to 1947 he was a lecturer in lithography at the School of Book Art. In 1948, together with Raúl Anguiano and other artists, he founded the Sociedad para el Impulso de las Artes Plásticas (Society for the Impulse of Plastic Art).

In 1949 Chavez Morado went on a trip to Europe. He planned the artistic design of Mexico City with the architect Raúl Casto . In 1950 he was director of drawing classes at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature, INBAL). In 1961 he traveled to Spain , Greece , Turkey and Egypt . In 1962 he founded a school for design and handicrafts at the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura.

In 1966 he moved to Guanajuato. Here he was involved in setting up the museum in the Alhóndiga de Granaditas , in which he also created wall paintings. From 1970 to 1980 he headed this museum. In 1974 he was awarded the National Prize for Science and Art. In 1975 Chávez Morado and his wife donated their art collection to the museum. In 1985 he received an honorary doctorate from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM). In 1988 an exhibition of his works took place at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City and Guanajuato. In 1993 he donated his house in Guanajuato to the Museo Alhóndiga. There is also a museum in the house where he was born in Siloa.

literature

• Helga Prignitz: TGP: a graphic artist collective in Mexico from 1937–1977 . Berlin 1981, ISBN 3-922005-12-8
• Helga Prignitz-Poda: Taller de Gráfica Popular - Workshop for graphic folk art: posters and leaflets on the labor movement and trade unions in Mexico 1937–1986 . Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-935656-10-6

Web links

• Literature by and about José Chávez Morado in the catalog of the Ibero-American Institute of Prussian Cultural Heritage, Berlin