Public spaces animated by the vibrant spectacle of daily life informed the work of many Mexican modernist artists. Street life in Mexican villages and cities—gatherings on the zócalo (town square), vendors and shoppers mixing at the mercado (market), pop-up theatrical troupes amusing passersby, and festive holiday processions—became subjects for paintings, photographs, and films.
Rites of passage and other ceremonies typically have an element of public celebration; even though portions are observed in a sacred location or in the home, the events invariably spilled onto the streets and into the art of the day.
Manuel Álvarez Bravo
Mexican, 1902–2002
Obstacles, 1929
Platinum print
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
[Artwork Description: This black and white photograph shows us four carousel horses emerging side by side through an irregular rectangular opening in a large tarp container. The horses are facing front and slightly to the left. Their heads, necks, chests and front legs, brightly illuminated by the outside light, contrast with the black interior of the tarp. The horse furthest to the left is a light gray with a dark gray forelock; the horse next to it is white, and the two horses to the right of the white horse are white with dark gray markings on their head, neck, chest and front legs. All four horses have simple halters without nose straps on their heads, and wide breast-collars on their chests. The horses are in motion, their necks extending straight up from their chest, their heads held high. The darker horse at the left end turns its head slightly downward, in contrast to the white horse next to it, which has thrown its head upward so energetically its nose is higher than the heads of the other three horses. The horses’ eyes are opened wide; their nostrils are distended; their mouths are open, showing their front teeth. The dark horse at the left has its ears laid back. We can’t see the ears of the other three horses; they’re hidden by the top of the tarp., which pushes down against the horses’ heads.) The horses are plunging forward as if they are jumping a hurdle, with their front legs, raised straight forward from their body, then bent down at the “knee” (actually the horses’ ankle joint) at a 90 degree angle. The lined up front legs form a series of upside-down L’s running across the bottom of the photograph. The horses’ front hooves, turned inward, bump up against a barely visible board that extends across most of the bottom edge of the photograph.]
Lola Álvarez Bravo
Mexican, 1903–1993
The Rapture (Mexico City), about 1950
Gelatin silver print
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
Documenting festivals, carnivals, theaters, and local events allowed artists to celebrate popular culture and cultural histories and to reveal social disparities. Álvarez Bravo depicted outdoor activities as an essential element of Mexican culture and as a way to understand the multiple realities of the post-revolutionary era.
[Artwork Description: This tightly cropped black and white photograph shows three children on a carousel. In the middle of the frame a young girl leans sharply to the right atop her horse, clutching the pole with her fingers extending to her face. Her left leg dangles down the side of the horse, with her toes touching the ground. Behind her the head and upper chest of a second young girl is visible while a boy is seen in three-quarter view on the left side. The poles attached to the horses form a strong vertical pattern while the elaborately carved horses with swirling tails and manes merge together in a pattern that suggests movement.]
Lola Álvarez Bravo
Mexican, 1903–1993
The Dream of the Drowned, about 1945
Gelatin silver print, offset printing, and ink
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
The Dream of the Drowned combines fragments from Álvarez Bravo’s photographs, including the floating face of the painter Juan Soriano and dancers at the Ballet Folklórico de México. Separating the images from their original contexts, Álvarez Bravo juxtaposed real and fantastical elements—a quality shared by Surrealism and the Marvelous Real.
[Artwork Description: In this surrealistic photo montage, 12 women dressed as ballerinas in stain bodices and full tulle skirts are positioned at various heights on a sandy beach bordering still water. The two women at the extreme left side gesture towards a woman perched atop a tall precarious stack of wood. Two other women flank her on the other side. Three more women are on the far right, atop a wooden structure with a cavelike opening. In the foreground, women are positioned on a long branch in the water. The disembodied head of a male floats in the water in the far right corner. A cloud-filled sky completes the photograph.]
Miguel Covarrubias
Mexican, 1904–1957
Lindy Hop
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
[Artwork Description: This black and white lithograph shows multiple pairs of dark-skinned figures dancing. One couple dominates the foreground, positioned at center right. The sleek male figure’s body, clad in black, is sinuously bent with upraised arm, curved back, and the hips and rear jutting out. His forward leg is straight while the back leg is bent at the knee and partially obscured by his partner. The feet curve toward each other like parentheses and end in pointed toes. His face is obscured by the upraised arm of his partner, whom he encircles with his arm. She is seen in profile with a white cap, barely discernible facial features except for the outline of a curved nose and parted lips. She is wearing a fluid, sleeveless white dress with scooped neck, fitted body, and a skirt that hugs her rear and then flounces out in rippled pleats, reflecting movement. Like her partner, one leg is bent while the other is straight and her body curves into his. Extensive cross-hatching shades both the figures and the background. A white circle glows in the upper left corner amidst a dark background. Vertical floorboards anchor the dancers and go from dark to light with shadows of the figures. Five other couples dance behind the main couple, on either side, in graduated sizes and different poses. Some are close together, others apart and their arms and legs are in various positions, all showing a great deal of rhythm.]
Miguel Covarrubias
Mexican, 1904–1957
Portrait of Diego Rivera, about 1920
Ink and watercolor on paper
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
As a young artist, Miguel Covarrubias was famous for his caricatures that were printed in various publications and literary magazines in Mexico City. As a draftsman, he met many of the leading figures of the Mexican art world, including Rivera, satirized in this portrait.
[Artwork Description: A cartoonish drawing of Diego Riviera. He is standing in front of a red background that has three large cream-colored stripes cutting across the illustration. The ground he is standing on has small gray bumps like cobblestones. He is turned about slightly to the left with his right arm resting on a waist-high decorated post. He is wearing a tight light brown suit with a yellow shirt with the top button unbuttoned and collar spilling open. His left hand is in his pocket, and he has a large black wide brimmed hat on. His features are very round. He wears large round brown shoes, has a huge round belly and round face with large round lips, big white eyes and dark sideburns on each side of his face.]
Rufino Tamayo
Mexican, 1899–1991
The Diner, 1938
Oil on canvas
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
Many of Tamayo’s works depict scenes of everyday life but often set in a dreamlike space. The compressed perspective and manipulated proportions of this painting suggest an anxious psychological state, reflecting the stresses of modern life.
[Artwork Description: At the center of this painting sits a male figure at a table in the act of eating a meal. The figure is stylized with massively oversized shoulders, and arms with a relatively small head. The figure is pictured from the waist up with a table before him obscuring the rest of his body. His left hand rest on the table edge while his right hand raises a fork with food. The figure has pale gray skin, short cropped brown hair. His eyes appear to gaze downward at the fork and his expression is neutral. He wears a gray crew neck shirt under a brown jacket that changes to a creamy gray color halfway down his torso. The blue table occupies the lower third of the painting and features a white plate that holds what may be pink and reddish eggs and a gray knife. Near the plate lie two spoons, a deep yellow banana and small red flowers that have dropped from the single tall stalk at the far left of the painting. Across the lower portion of the painting and the blue tabletop, is a red curlicue of a wire bistro chairback. Also seen at far right is a portion of a large red and blue vases, almost as large as the man’s figure. Behind the man, interior doors, wall angles and the ceiling are seen in alternating blue, rusty red, and gray. A swath of scalloped curtains borders the top edge of the painting. Just below this at right, a square of blue speckled with white is shown, possibly depicting a window or skylight.]
Rufino Tamayo
Mexican, 1899–1991
Portrait of Cantinflas, 1948
Oil on canvas
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
Cantinflas was known as an endearing, penniless character who used his sharp wit and humor to get out of jams. He became an iconic symbol of Mexico’s working class thanks to the comedic actor Mario Moreno, who portrayed him in many films produced by Jacques Gelman. Here, Tamayo depicts Cantinflas on a film set, surrounded by crew and equipment.
[Artwork Description: A surrealist portrait of actor and comedian Cantinflas. He fills most of the painting, appearing at center as a masked clown-like character. A small gray fedora is tipped forward low on his head and black diamond shapes are overlaid on his eyes. The actor’s figure has pale white skin, a long nose and thin mustache. His left arm is stretched out before him while the other is tucked under the first. He appears to wear a gray cape and short sleeve top with his forearms depicted in red. In the lower portion of the painting, silhouettes of the heads of three figures and a large film camera are seen. The main figure appears to be bathed in light while the surrounding area remains darkened. The overall effect is one of shadows and light similar to those in a cinema with the actor taking on a grand stature.]
María Izquierdo
Mexican, 1902–1955
Bride from Papantla, 1944
Oil on canvas
The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of 20th-Century Mexican Art and the Vergel Foundation
This bride from Papantla, a region in the state of Veracruz, wears a white quexquémitl (shawl), a long white veil, and a floral headdress. For Izquierdo and Kahlo, wearing traditional clothing was part of their commitment to mexicanidad, a populist political identity that celebrated Mexico’s Indigenous cultures and traditions as the foundation for the modern nation.
[Artwork Description: In this painting, a woman in a white dress and veil is sitting in a meadow on a high-backed wooden chair. Her figure from the top of her headdress to near the bottom hem of her dress fills the left side of the painting. On the right is the trunk and lower branch of a tree. The green leaves of the tree fill the top right corner of the painting. Behind her on the left side is the thick brown trunk of a tree. The chair is sitting in front of a blue river bordered with green grass on both sides. A light brown hammock is tied to the tree branch on the right and extends behind the chair. Small flowers of many colors are growing at the base of the tree to the level of her waist. The bodice of the dress appears to be a softly pleated material. A band of sheer white material embroidered with white flowers decorates the neckline. The full skirt is embroidered with white flowers. The veil is sheer and extends from the top of her head to below her knees. The front edge is cut into large scallops. Each scallop is decorated with a white six-petaled flower and delicate white leaves. Around her neck are two strands of brown beads. The lower strand hangs to waist level and ends with an abstract five-sided decoration that appears to be made from the same material as the beads. Her rounded oval face is turned slightly toward her left with a quiet expression. She has dark brown eyes with black pupils. Her arched dark eyebrows extend into a thin nose. Her bright red lips are set in a slight smile. The upper lip is heart shaped and the lower is full and rounded. Her dark brown hair is parted in the middle and pulled back softly. The veil is attached to the crown of her head by two large, red roses which are at the top of the painting. The veil covers her ears and upper arms and extends to below her knees with a white fringe at the bottom. A large, red cloth is tucked into her waist at her right side and covers her right thigh. Her lower arms angle down to her lap and cross at the wrist. The fingers of her left hand rest on the red cloth while the right hand gently holds the left wrist with the thumb underneath and the fingers resting on the white skirt. Her fingernails are painted bright red. The supports of a spindle backed chair show behind her head. The chair is painted yellow with blue accents. The supports reach to the top of the painting to the same level as the rose headdress. A thin strip of blue sky shows behind the chair.]
María Izquierdo
Mexican, 1902–1955
Circus Scene, 1940
Gouache on paper
The Vergel Foundation
[Artwork Description: A dominantly brown gauche painting with three horses and two figures. In the foreground there is a reddish brown round log fence with a post on the far left and half of a person on the right side. The figure is straddling the log and playing a golden trumpet. They are wearing light blue tights and a blue and white skirt; they have tanned skin and almond brown shoes. Beyond the fence there are two horses on the right side who appear to be in motion, they have at least one foot off the ground. The horse furthest to the right is white with a red band around its snout. The second horse is brown with a white chest and has a yellow band around its snout. The final horse is white and has a rider on it. The horse is standing on its hind legs with its front legs dangling in the air. The head is pulled back by the rider and the teeth are exposed. The rider has tan skin, long brown hair and a red tank top, white shorts or skirt and pink tights. In the very back of the painting is another vertical round wooden log that is cropped out of the painting.]
María Izquierdo
Mexican, 1902–1955
Circus Scene with Gypsy, 1940
Gouache on paper
The Vergel Foundation
[Artwork Description: A gauche painting with seven tan skinned figures, their covered wagon and a fire mainly composed of browns, whites, oranges, pinks and blue. In the lower left is a man wearing a white long sleeve shirt and blue pants. He has his left knee at a 90 degree angle resting on a block and appears to be clapping with his attention turned to a woman near the center of the painting. She is wearing a long pinkish dress with a lacy bottom and has her right leg out at a 90 degree angle, her right arm extended straight up to the sky holding a tambourine. Next to her is a large fire consisting of red and orange flames. On the other side of the fire are two women sitting close to each other on a simple wooden bench. The woman on the left is wearing a long pink dress, the woman next to her is cropped out of the painting and wearing a blue dress. At the back of the painting is a large covered wagon with a rounded white cover, big gray wheels and two long wooden bars where it would be attached draft animals. Directly in front of the wagon are two figures in form fitting clothing. The one standing on the left a little taller with white pants and a blue tank top, the one on the right is leaning on the wagon wheel and is wearing blue pants and a yellow tank top. Next to the standing figure are a stack of colored rectangles that are obscured by the tambourine. The final figure is a woman in a brown dress in front of a doorway and is walking towards the two men in tight clothes with her left arm outstretched and stepping forward with her left foot. The background behind her is blue, and the rest of the walls in the painting are brown.]