Elena Huerta Múzquiz

Elena Huerta Múzquiz, also known as Elena Huerta de Arenal (born July 15, 1908 – death 1997) was a Mexican artist, she was best known for her mural work in her hometown of Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Most of her art career was dedicated to teaching, but she was one of the founders of the Compañía de Teatro Infantil with German Cueto, Lola Cueto, Angelina Beloff and Leopoldo Méndez, the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios and a founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.

She created three mural projects in Saltillo, with the last done when she was 65 years of age, the largest mural work created by a woman in Mexico.

Early life and education The artist was born in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico into a powerful, traditional family with the name of Elena Enriqueta Huerta Muzquiz. Her father, Adolfo Huerta Vargas and her maternal grandfather, José María Múzquiz, were governors of the state of Coahuila from the late 19th into early 20th centuries. Nicknamed La Nena Huerta (English: "The Huerta Girl"), her artistic talents appeared in childhood. Soon after finishing her studies in Saltillo, she moved to Mexico City, where she took a number of courses in painting and sculpture at the Academy of San Carlos.

Huerta became politically radicalized as a young woman, and she, her husband and their children were all leftist activists. Rivera called her and her daughter Electa, Las Rusitas ("the Little Russians"). She continued this work until 1937, when she returned to teaching drawing, possibly because of her health. Her surviving daughter, Sandra became a writer and activist related to women's and children's rights. Many of her grandchildren have careers in the arts in the Monterrey area. It is one of Coahuila's most important murals and one of the last true to the style of Mexican muralism. This mural was restored in 1999 by two of the artists that worked with her originally.

In addition to art, she also wrote publications such as books related to rural life in Mexico. Near the end of her life, she wrote her memoirs, published under the title of El círculo que se cierra in 1999 by the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila.

Death and legacy Huerta died in 1997, at the age of 89.

Although her mural painting was done long after, Huerta is considered to be a contemporary of Orozco, Rivera and Siqueiros, with influence also from Guadarrama. Her mural work remains true to the Mexican muralism movement, as one of the artists that worked to keep the tradition alive and also shows influence from Soviet art. These murals contain the faces from her own history, such as those of Rubén Herrera, along with those of social and political activists.

Work Although best known for her mural work, she did not begin this work until later in life. One reason for this was that women did not win commissions for murals during most of the 20th century, and many of her years were taken up with health concerns, family responsibilities, teaching and her involvement with the Communist Party. Her mural work consists of three projects: one at the Escuela Superior de Agricultura Antonio Narro (now the Universidad Autónoma Agraria), the Instituto de Ciencias y Artes de Saltillo (today the Tecnológico de Saltillo) and the last at the then municipal hall of the city of Saltillo (today the Centro Cultural Vito Alessio Robles). At the beginning of the 1950s, Huerta began looking for opportunities to paint mural, although this endeavour was still mostly closed to women. Her best opportunity was in the home city, where her family still had influence. Negotiations for the first work took a winding path with several municipal presidents, state official and directors of federal cultural institutions. Although initial approval was gained first for the Instituto de Ciencias y Artes, in the end the first project was at the Escuela Superior de Agricultura Antonio Narro in 1952. This project was done at the auditorium of the campus being built at the time, on which she collaborated with her daughter Electa and fellow Coahuila painter, Eloy Cerecero. Soon after, she began the Instituto de Ciencias y Artes project, working with María Romana Herrera, the daughter of her former teacher, and Chacha Martínez Morton. This mural has a feminist theme, with most of the protagonists being women. Upon completion of these projects, Huerta was offered a teaching position in printing and painting by the state of Coahuila, supported by INBA.