Artes de Mexico en Utah

Art Reception - Exhibit Runs Until Jun 7

Art by José Maria Velasco, Mexican painter · Exhibit runs from Apr 21 - Jun 7

ARTIST STATEMENT:

In the artistic tradition of the nineteenth century, the artistic reproduction of public attractions of Mexico City was very important. At the same time throughout the second half of the 19th century, there was a gradual intrusion of technological and industrial development in the Mexican landscape represented by railroads and factory moles in landscape compositions. Rural Mexico was transforming and imposing emblematic factories. José Maria Velasco was an artist that focused on emblematic spaces of the current city, documenting its trains, dams, bridges, and factories. Velasco was an extremely influential painter in the development of modern Mexican art. He was trained by European artists but chose to paint his own backyard, the Valley of Mexico. Most Mexican artists with any economic means continued their studies in Europe, often Paris. Velasco did not. He preferred to stay in Mexico. His landscapes focused on the lives of common people and incorporating native plants and symbols that are uniquely Mexican. Velasco painted Mexico as if he were flying above the landscape, an unprecedented use of perspective. In his works, Velasco shows us a world that is not precisely that of inactivity but neither that of movement, rather that of rest. His entire canvas is sharply detailed, demonstrating his interest in plant life and science, and vivid color, infusing the canvas with sharp “Mexican light.” He eliminates the “framing” with foliage, thus creating a feeling of vastness. Velasco meets the premise of Alexander von Humboldt when he says that a great landscape designer must also be a scientific observer. He taught perspective and landscape painting in Mexico’s San Carlos Academy. Some of his best-known students were Dr. Atl and Diego Rivera.  For this and many reasons more, the National Museum of Art of Mexico today presents a series of twenty-five images that allow the painter’s death one of the most important legacies of the cultural heritage of mankind, beginning with the selection of works ranging from 1875 to 1908.

ARTIST BIO:

Born on July 6th of 1840, José Maria Velasco Gomez was the son of shawl weavers from the State of Mexico. He studied at Mexico’s most prestigious art school. His work was chosen for the 1889 Paris International Exhibition, a world’s fair of culture and industry. He also won top art prize at the Chicago’s World Fair. 

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