Item# AT-0331-"Ninas Jugando" Oil Painting by Gustavo Montoya (1905 -2003)

Item #AT-0331
"Ninas Jugando" Oil Painting by Gustavo Montoya

Description:

"Ninas Jugando" or Girls playing, oil on canvas by famous Mexican artist Gustavo Montoya (1905-2003) On Verso gallery lable Galeria Arte De Coleccionistas. Dated 1968

Provenance:
Galeria Arte De Coleccionistas., Mexico City
Private Collection Bloomfield Hills, MI (50 Years)

Mexican

Measures:
Unframed
20"H x 24"W
Framed

29"H x 32.5"W

Gustavo Montoya (b. July 9, 1905 – d. July 12, 2003) was a Mexican artist considered to be a late adherent to the Mexican School of Painting, most often associated with Mexican muralism. He was born in Mexico City, from a family associated with the Porfirio Díaz regime and who had to hide during part of the Mexican Revolution. He attended the Academy of San Carlos despite his father’s objections. He later met and married artist Cordelia Urueta, with whom he lived in Paris, developing his artistic talents. He was not heavily involved in Mexico’s artistic circles but was a founding member of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios and the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. His best-selling work was that of children in regional traditional Mexican clothing, but he also painted many street scenes in Mexico City as well as portraits and still lifes.

His first professional artistic work was making posters for movies with the West Coast Theaters Co in the United States, starting in 1928.
He returned for a time to Mexico, working with Pastor Velázquez and other artists and working in 1936 at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (ENAP) . He then went to Europe, then New York where he had several exhibitions before returning again to Mexico in 1942. At this time, he became focused on the work of fellow Mexicans, joining the Mexican neo-realism movement to continue the traditions of Mexican muralism. He began to teach at ENAP again in 1953.

His first exhibition was at the Durand Gallery in Los Angeles, California followed by exhibits in Mexico as well as Peru, the United States, Belgium, Japan and other countries. In 1945, he exhibited at the Galería de Plástica Mexicana of Inés Amor. In 1949, his work was recognized at the La ciudad de México y sus pintores” event and exhibited his work at the first Bienal Mexicana at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1958, at the second Bienal Panamericana in 1960 and then at the Retrato Mexicano event at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in 1961. In 1966 he exhibited at Beverly Hills Collectors Gallery in Los Angeles. His work was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in San Antonio in 1978. In 1985 he exhibited at the Galeria Arte Nucleo in Mexico City. He participated in collective exhibitions at the Museo Mural Diego Rivera and the Galeria Marstelle in 1995 and 1996. In 1997, the Museo Mural Diego Rivera realized an anthology of his work, referring to him as a “Great Silent One"

His most commercially successful work was that of children dressed in regional traditional clothing, showing influence from Diego Rivera. Most of the collectors of his work were those who appreciated his traditional style, mostly from the United States. Significant works include “Las calles de Mexico" (1945), "Bodegones mexicanos" (1951), "Ninos mexicanos" (1954), "Muros" (1962) and "Ajedrez" (1971). His last works include "Agonia de una tarde", "Autorretrato muerto" and "La muerte canta" in 1996.