Jesús Guerrero Galván

Jesús Guerrero Galván (June 1, 1910 – May 11. 1973 ) was a Mexican artist, a member of the Mexican muralism movement of the early 20th century. He began his career in Guadalajara but moved to Mexico City to work on mural projects in the 1930s for the Secretaría de Educación Pública and Comisión Federal de Electricidad In addition, he did easel paintings, with major exhibitions in the United States and Mexico. In 1943, he was an artist-in-residence for the University of New Mexico, painting the mural Union of the Americas Joined in Freedom, considered to be one of his major works. Guerrero Galván was accepted as a member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.

Life Guerrero Galván was born in Tonalá, Jalisco, in 1910, to a poor farming family of Purépecha origin. At an early age, he showed a talent for drawing and received full support from his family to pursue art, and studied drawing in Guadalajara as a child.

When the family returned to Mexico, he entered the Guadalajara workshop of José Vizcarra working there from 1923 to 1924. Vizcarra required his students to copy reproductions of Raphael and Gerardo Murillo and draw perspective s of colonial buildings and nudes. This training influenced his later work and kept admiration for the masters of the Renaissance through is life. He also respected and admired Mesoamerican culture and art, Mexican portraits of the 19th century, the nationalism of Mexican muralism and the production of Picasso as well.

Artistry Guerrero Galván was one of the most prolific figurative painters from 20th century Jalisco, part of the Mexican muralism movement. While best known for mural painting, the artist also worked on canvas, lithography and illustration, noted as a draughtsman and colorist. His important works include Fecundidad en el "Olimpo House", La unión de las Américas bajo la égida de la libertad, La niña, Juárez niño, El retrato de la señora de Macotela, El Sueño, La Danza de los venados, La Tierra and El génesis del Popol Vuh.

His style has been characterized as magical realism and poetic, with influences from Italian painting, Jalisco folk art and other aspects of Mexican culture. Elements in his work include eye expressions indicating placidity in his figures, eyes gazing into infinity and the lack of emotion in the lips. Although he was political in his personal life and part of the muralism movement, his artwork did not have a political or social message. Recurring themes in his easel work is the reality of the Mexican child and a woman on her own with a child, depicting a woman as a mother above all. These are often on sparse settings and the children can seem to be in a kind of limbo.

He was also noted as a portrait painter, with many of his best featuring women and children.