Real Mexico: Artist Maria Izquierdo
Tara A. Spears
This time of political upheaval, diminishing women’s rights and increased stress due to global uncertainties is reminiscent of the 1940s. Many people choose to escape to Mexico in hopes of finding a simpler, happier lifestyle. One artist, Maria Izquierdo, is renowned for choosing the ordinary elements and traditions of Mexican life for her subject matter. Izquierdo’s art stands out for its ingenious portrayals of Mexico among an era of highly politicized art.
Maria Cenobia Izquierdo’s art is characterized by a love for her country and Catholic traditions that runs deep within her heart. One of the most striking elements of Izquierdo’s imagery is her honesty and sensuality along with her subliminal mysticism that lurks in all her work. Often described as a surrealist style artist, Izquierdo stated that she was merely painting what she liked, using “art as a means of communicating with the soul.” The art of Izquierdo infuses strong strokes, color, primitivism and dreams into her work. It is so typically Mexican; After all, isn’t the real Mexico a juxtaposition of ancient traditions with modern progress?
It’s sad that the struggles of a woman in the early twentieth century are still being experienced in the early 21st century. Maria wanted to dedicate her life to creating art but in order to pursue education and a career, Maria had to abandon (divorce) her husband. Izquierdo’s art gained international recognition in 1930 when she became the first Mexican woman to have a solo exhibition in the United States. She opened doors for subsequent women artists by being the first Mexican female artist to be selected for public commissions.
Throughout her life, Maria devoted herself to painting, the subject matter clearly showing her pride in her Mexican roots. Inspired by devotional art and also by French painters, she has left many paintings that are extremely simple, illustrating altars and horses, portraits and circus. She painted images which were rooted in Mexican traditions, with the extraordinary talent of an Indian tarasco coming from a Mexican village in the heart of Mexico.
As Izquierdo matured as an artist, she identified with the Contemporáneos movement, which believed that Mexican culture should be rightfully seen as a vital contributor to the dominant Western culture. She wasn’t afraid to go against popular Mexican art movements and follow her own style of painting. Her culture as a mestiza was an essential part of her artistic style and themes used in her work. Izquierdo was celebrated as an artist with a genuine understanding of native and rural traditions, and her altar paintings were recognized at the time for “their delightful indigenous ingenuousness.” Her naive painterly technique, intended to recall the folk painting of regional artisans, heightened the effect.
Izquierdo’s unique perspective was included in the Mexican nationalist discourse of the 1940s, suggest ways of bringing together several sets of belief and traditions that are too often kept separate: those of Latin America, of feminism, of modernism, and of nationalism. As former president, Enrique Pena Nieto said, “Mexico is a mosaic of different realities and beauties.” Thanks to the talent and dedication of Maria Izquierdo, the world can enjoy the soul of Mexico through art.
