Exposición José Luis Cuevas: Works on Paper
June 2, 2004 - August 21, 2004

The Mexican Museum proudly presented a selection of prints from its permanent collection by one of Mexico's premiere artists, José Luis Cuevas. The exhibition featured lithographs and drawings spanning four decades, many of which were on display for the first time.

Cuevas is a self-taught draftsman, engraver and sculptor, having taken only one course at Escuela de Pintura, Grabado y Escultura "La Esmeralda." Cuevas was a controversial personality in Mexico because of his very public writings against the Mexican Government's role as patron of the arts. During the 1950s, Cuevas was very active in the "Generación de Ruptura" (Rupture Generation) that looked for an alternative to the Mexican mural painting school, which emphasized social content messages.

Unlike most Mexican artists, Cuevas does not find the subject matter for his art in Mexico's artistic traditions, but draws inspiration from Europe, specifically the writings of Dostoyevsky, Kafka, Dickens; the graphic techniques of Durer, Rembrandt, Goya; and the drawing styles of Picasso and Matisse. He considers himself faithful to the Mexican tradition, however, in that he portrays the "tragic" sense of life that is found in Mexico's Pre-Conquest and Colonial Art, as well as in the artwork of José Guadalupe Posada.

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