Alfredo Ramos Martinez at the PMCA

On Wednesday I roamed over to the Pasadena Museum of California Art to view the "Picturing Mexico" by Alfredo Ramos Martinez.  The paintings were done while Martinez lived in California the last 16 years of his life - 1929 to 1946.  Martinez was born in Mexico in 1871.  His art development included 10 years in Europe from 1900 to 1910. He returned to his country at about the time of the beginning of the Mexican civil war which lasted from 1911 to 1920.  His artist colleagues were Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco who produced strong political work and social critiques.

In the U.S., Martinez produced murals, frescoes, and paintings depicting Mexican people and landscapes.  His works included oils on canvas and newsprint and tempera on paper.  Some of his work is on newspapers with the print bleeding through perhaps with subversive messages to add to the painting.

Martinez added to the Mexican culture at a time when San Diego developed their art museum. Olvera Street was revamped to emphasize the charms of Old Mexico, and popular motion pictures included those with the beautiful Mexican actresses, Dolores del Rio and Lupe Velez.

Martinez created murals at the Santa Barbara Cemetery Chapel, the Coronado Public Library in San Diego and a garden at Scripps College in Claremont.

"Indian with Cactus" 1931, Tempera on paper