Jorge González Camarena

Jorge González Camarena (24 March 1908 – 24 May 1980) was a Mexican painter, muralist and sculptor. He is best known for his mural work, as part of the Mexican muralism movement, although his work is distinct from the main names associated with it (Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros). His major works include the mural on the main administration building of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies and a mural created for the Universidad de Concepción in Chile. He also created easel works, one of which, La Patria, was well known in Mexico as it was used on the cover of free textbooks from the 1960s into the 1970s. Recognitions for his work include the Premio Nacional de Arte, membership in the Academia de Artes and the Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, grade Commendatore from the Italian government.

Life González Camarena was born in Guadalajara to Arturo González and Sara Camarena, both of whom were originally from Arandas, Jalisco. His was an artistic and cultural family as his father was a photographer. He had seven siblings, and his brother Guillermo invented the color television set. From childhood, Jorge showed interest in art. When he visited his aunt Esther, he spent long hours watching her paint while the other children ran in the garden. This inspired him to not only draw, but to also create works in pumice stone, pebbles and clay. He also created his own comic strip called Los Chiquinitos, which he sold to classmates. During his school years, his principle teachers included Mateo Herrera and Francisco Díaz de León, working in various media such as fresco, oil on fabric, vinylite, ship paint, tempera, mosaics and ceramics.

In 1934, he married Jeannie Barré de Saint-Leu with whom he had four children.

In 1933, painter Jorge Enciso, director of the Dirección de Monumentos Coloniales, commissioned him to restore the 16th-century frescos on the walls of the former monastery of Huejotzingo, Puebla. He also did a study on the presence of demon and devil images in Mexican art and folklore.

González Camarena began creating mural works in 1939, with twenty six of the works still remaining. The resulting work was 300 m2 on a wall of the Casa de la Cultura José Clemente Orozco at the Universidad de Concepción. Very little of the artist's work are in the family as the rest were sold.

He also created portraits and self-portraits. Notable examples of these include those of his sister Susana, Francisco Díaz de León, Rosa Luz Alegría and Guillermo Soberón. In his self-portraits, his eyeglasses generally dominate the composition.

Works La Vendimia Nacional (1946) Autorretrato (1946) Las Razas (1964) Presencia de América Latina (1965) Milagro del Tepeyac (c 1947) Trilogía de Saltillo (1978) El abrazo (1980)