Magnitud Mexicana: Visions of Art highlights creations by almost thirty different Mexican artists of the past century, on special loan from four institutions and one private collection in Mexico. Of varied theme, mood, and technique, these forty-plus works include easel paintings by the great Muralists Orozco and Siqueiros, political prints by the leading satirist José Guadalupe Posada and others, lyrical visions and powerful figures by painters such as María Izquierdo, Rufino Tamayo, and Gilberto Aceves Navarro, as well as more abstract and contemporary pieces by Mario Rangel Faz, Helen Escobedo and other masters. Among the prestigious lenders to this exhibition are the following institutions in Mexico City: Museo Nacional de Arte, Museo de Arte Carillo Gil, Museo Nacional de la Estampa, and Centro Nacional de Conservación y Registro del Patrimonio Artístico Mueble.

From an annual review of project achievements of the Museo Nacional de Arte – MUNAL in México in 2010, this exhibition aims to circulate the Mexican art form of creative drawing within the medium in context of post-revolutionary art. Another objective met by this exhibition is to establish contact with the American public as part of the MUNAL’s mission to reaffirm the Mexican national identity through the arts.  The exhibition spans the twentieth century from c. 1900 to 1945 in charcoal and watercolor.  The earliest works are from c. 1900, represented by a stunning watercolor portrait of a woman by Alfredo Ramos Martínez, who is considered by many to be the father of Mexican Modernism and a 1909 charcoal drawing of a Warrior by Saturnino Herrán, the first Mexican artist to envision the concept of a totally Mexican art and who paved the foundation for the development of the Mexican muralist movement twenty years before Los Tres Grandes – Siqueiros, Orozco and Rivera.   Other works by Roberto Montenegro and Antonio Fabres predate the rise of Modernism in Mexico, while others featured in the exhibition include the more celebrated and recognized, Modernists, Dr. Atl (Gerardo Murillo), José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and Julio Castellanos.  The exhibition made its debut in 2010 in Paris and is being exhibited for the first time in United States at the El Paso Museum of Art.

Diego Rivera and the Cubist Vision from the Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, México, D.F.

   Hans Erni Lithographs

March 25 – July 8, 2012

Gateway Gallery

 

Hans Erni (Swiss, 1909 -   )

Untitled (figure contemplating four faces)

Lithograph

Courtesy of Steve Rosenberg Collection

  

Hans Erni, often called the Swiss Picasso, is one of the best-known Swiss artists of the 20^th century. The chronology of his many achievements could be spread among the careers of several artists. In addition to his art, Erni has worked as an anthropologist and lobbyist for humanity. His work in all its various forms is largely public and speaks of his respect for his fellow humans in a simple and powerful way.

 

Born in Lucerne in 1909, Erni was at the forefront of developments in abstract art in Paris, and for almost eighty years helped to shape modern art. Erni studied at the School of Arts and Trades in Lucerne beginning in 1927, and in 1928 he went to Paris to attend the Julien Academy. He expanded his international experiences at the School for Fine and Applied Art in Berlin from 1929 to1930. During the 1930s, Erni moved between Paris and his Lucerne-based studio. He had contacts with many artists including Constantin Brancusi and Vasily Kandinsky, and he was strongly influenced by the works of Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. In 1933 he joined the “Abstraction-Création” group in Paris and later co-founded the Abstract Alliance in Switzerland.

 

Erni’s works reveal his admiration for ancient Greek art as well as modern concepts of abstraction and realism. He frequently incorporates classical motifs such as mythological characters and clean-lined nudes. Erni’s experiences of the 1930s were critical in shaping the artist’s style of boldly outlined figures and a limited, almost industrial color palette. During the early 1930s Erni worked under the pseudonym “François Grècque,” paying homage to classical Greek art and French influence. The later 1930s and ’40s saw Erni move between London and Europe and begin public work such as frescoes, murals, postage stamps, book illustrations, sculpture, ceramics, costumes, fountains, stained glass, and numerous paintings. This activity brought him recognition across Europe and continues to the present day.

 

In the 1950s Erni traveled extensively through Africa and Asia and attended to professional duties as Art Director for projects with Aldus Books in London and Doubleday Inc. in New York City. Throughout the remaining decades of the 20^th century he continued to express his regard for humanity in works with political, social, and anthropological themes. Erni designed theater sets and costumes, murals, and campaign designs for the likes of the World Health Organization, the United Nations, and the International Olympic Committee while producing paintings, lithographs, and the public work which marked his career to this point. 1979 brought the opening of the Hans Erni Museum in Lucerne. Erni continued to garner recognition from numerous entities, winning awards, international acclaim, and an abundance of high-profile commissions. Critics praise the international appeal, social purpose, and the viability of Erni`s work. As of early 2012, Erni continues to live and work near Lucerne and frequently attends exhibit openings, lectures, and other events throughout Europe.