Pedro Coronel
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Pedro Coronel (March 25, 1922 – May 23, 1985) was a Mexican sculptor and painter. He was part of the Generación de la Ruptura, which brought innovation into
Mexican art Various types of visual arts developed in the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follows the history of Mexico, divided into the prehispanic Mesoamerican era, the New Spain, colonial period, with the per ...
in the mid 20th century. Coronel's training was with artists of the
Mexican muralism Mexican muralism refers to the art project initially funded by the Mexican government in the immediate wake of the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) to depict visions of Mexico's past, present, and future, transforming the walls of many public buil ...
tradition, with influence from artists like
Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...
. This influence remained with the use of pre Hispanic themes and colors in his work. However, his artistic trajectory took him towards more use of color and more abstract forms in his work, due to influences from artists such as
Rufino Tamayo Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (August 25, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec peoples, Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.Sullivan, 170-171Ades, 357 Tamayo was active in the mid-20th cen ...
. His work was exhibited and gained recognition in Mexico, the United States and Europe. Shortly before his death, he donated his considerable personal art collection to the people of Mexico, which was used to open the Museo Pedro Coronel in the city of Zacatecas.


Life

Pedro Coronel was born on March 25, 1921, in Jerez, Zacatecas to an upper-middle-class family. His mother played the violin and his father played the clarinet and violin. On Sundays they would get together and play folk music. The youngest of his brothers and sisters, Rafael, became a well-known painter of Moors, monks and the elderly. Pedro was a restless child, a dreamer and very rebellious. He did not like school, often skipping classes taking twelve years to finish his primary education. Instead, he preferred to go to the
quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...
and watch the workers carve out pieces of stone from the mountain. As a boy, he collected tops, marbles and puppets. This hobby would later evolve into a large collection of art from various parts of the world. His interest in art led him to study at the
Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" La Esmeralda or Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado (ENPEG) (English: National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking) is a Mexican art school founded in 1927 and located in Mexico City. History The history of the ENPEG s ...
when he was only thirteen, when the school had teachers such as Diego Rivera,
José Clemente Orozco José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siquei ...
,
Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...
and Francisco Zúñiga. Coronel forged friendships with Rivera, Zuñiga and Santos Balmori. He began by studying sculpture, but Santos Balmori’s influence encouraged him to paint. This led him to appreciate the uses of color. As he began his art career, he visited Paris in 1946, deciding to make it his second home in the late 1940s through 1950s, dividing years half in Paris and half in
Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...
. In the 1960s, he was a teacher at La Esmeralda, residing mostly in Mexico but traveling frequently to Europe, Asian and the United States. During this time, he also worked with Mathias Goeritz, Rufino Tamayo and
Pedro Friedeberg Pedro Friedeberg (born January 11, 1936) is an Italian-born Mexican artist and designer known for his surrealist work filled with lines colors and ancient and religious symbols. His best known piece is the “Hand-Chair” a sculpture/chair design ...
on the Hotel Camino Real in Mexico City. Coronel has been characterized as having a strong and sometimes violent personality as well as making curt responses. However, he has also been characterized as honest and fair. He said “he who does not yell, he who does not tremble, had no right to live.” referring “life” in the sense of feeling. He said he feared death only because it would end his painting. He was briefly married to Amparo Dávila, a Mexican writer but his long-term eighteen-year relation was with his second wife, Réjane Lalonde. Over his life, he amassed a large collection of pre Hispanic, African, Asian, Greco-Romano and Medieval art along with graphic art, with over 1,800 pieces from various places and times including Roman, Egyptian and Chinese works as well as art and handcrafts from Africa, the Mexican colonial period and works by
Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, an ...
,
Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
, Miró and
Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
. This collection was exhibited shortly before Coronel’s death and public reaction to it prompted him to donate it to the Mexican people and since 1986 it has been part of the permanent collection of a museum named after him in
Zacatecas Zacatecas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Zacatecas, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 31 states of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Zacatecas, 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas City, Zacatec ...
. Coronel died on May 23, 1985, in Mexico City. In 1986 his remains were moved to Zacatecas in accordance to his will, now at the Museo Pedro Coronel.


Career

While Coronel began his career as a sculptor, he divided his career between that and painting, with the painting becoming more important. Most of his artistic production occurred between 1949 and 1984, most of which consists of oils on canvas and
masonite Masonite board Back side of a masonite board Isorel, Quartrboard, Masonite Corporation, Masonite, also called Quartboard or pressboard, is a type of engineered wood made of steam-cooked and pressure-molded wood or paper fibers. The fibers ...
as well as sculptures in
onyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...
and sandstone. In his early career he worked in Paris with
Victor Brauner Victor Brauner (, also spelled Viktor Brauner; 15 June 1903 – 12 March 1966) was a Romanian painter and sculptor of the surrealism (art), surrealist movement. Early life He was born in Piatra Neamț, Romania, the son of a Jewish timber manufac ...
and sculptor
Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...
. He had his first exhibition of paintings in 1954, which attracted the interest of art critics. From then to the end of his career he exhibited his work in Mexico, France, Italy, the United States and Brazil. His important works include Toro mugiendo a la luna (1958), La lucha (1959), Los deshabitados, los hombres huecos, El sol es una flor (1967-1968), Año I Luna (1969), Alfar de sueños, Habitantes de amaneceres, Bodas solares, Camino de soles and Poética lunar. Recognitions for his work include the National Painting Prize in 1959, the José Clemente Orozco Prize (first place for painting and honorable mention in sculpture), the II Inter-American Biennial in Mexico in 1960, the Salón de la Pintura prize of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana in 1966 and the Premio Nacional de Arte in 1984. He was a founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana. In 1971 Justino Fernández published a book about him called Pedro Coronel, pintor y escultor. The state of Zacatecas named him a favorite son (Hijo predilecto) in 1977. Since his death, his work continues to be exhibited in various venues in Mexico. In 2005, the
Museo de Arte Moderno The Museo de Arte Moderno (MAM) is a museum dedicated to modern Mexican art located in Chapultepec Park in Mexico City. The museum is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura and provides exhibitions of national and internat ...
had a retrospective of his work thirty years after his death, mostly of large scale oils. In 2009, there was an exhibition of his graphic work at the state government building of
Tabasco Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Tabasco, 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It i ...
in
Villahermosa Villahermosa ( , ; "Beautiful Town") is the capital and largest city of the Mexican state of Tabasco, and serves as the municipal seat (governing county) of the state. Located in Southeast Mexico, Villahermosa is an important city because of its ...
.


Artistry

Pedro Coronel is classed as part of the Generación de la Ruptura. In the opinion of Santos Balmori, Coronel and Rufino Tamayo reinvented Mexican painting from its roots, finding a new way to connect the past with the present. Themes that appear in his work include mankind’s fears as well as anguish, pain and death. However, there are works which express love, sensuality, eroticism and life such as "Venus mexica" (1949), "la niña de la morena" (1940) and "La dama de las frutas" (1949). He began his career as a sculptor which influenced his painting by adding volume and solidity to his images. Although his aim in his work was spontaneity and freedom of expression, in reality it follows a trajectory leaning towards abstraction. His work has been divided into stages such as naturalist, structuralist, lyrical, chromatic, and the revival of native indigenous themes. His early work is mostly figurative. This work creates juxtapositions fields, idealistic images and a convergence of reality and fantasy. His later work is when his style is more personal and set, figures giving way to forms and color. From 1953 to 1957 his work is influenced by
Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
with some influence from Picasso with topics from everyday life such as bottles, glasses or lamps. Notable works from this period include Retrato de Mujer in 1953 and Naturaleza Muerta in 1956. A later stage shows interest in allegories with mythical personages. These paintings include El Advenimiento de Ella and La Lucha both from 1958 and Mujeres Habitadas from 1960. After this, his paintings became more colorful with lines simplifying such as in Los Fantoches Luminarios in 1962 and Rincón de Sueño from 1961. From 1962 to 1963 influence from Rufino Tamayo can be seen in paintings such as Interno Mágico from 1963. From 1966 to 1975 he worked became more abstract. These years also encompass the majority of his production. This later work is characterized by taking the use of color to its limits but not overdoing it. This use of color follows that of his predecessor, Rufino Tamayo, but Coronel’s innovation is the use of intense, more pure colors, and the harmonization of background with form, unlike other painters, including his brother Rafael, where the background is subservient to the main topic. Two colors which dominate many of his works are red and yellow, which tend to reflect melancholy, passion and loneliness. While a member of the Generación of the Ruptura, much of his work has pre Hispanic themes and colors, which were marks of the Mexican muralists. Works along these lines include "La niña de la morena", "La serie de los apóstoles" and "El regreso de Quetzalcoatl" (The return of Quetzalcoatl), a later work which is semi abstract. His work has been described as having an element of violence similar to that of ancient Mesoamerican art.


Museo Pedro Coronel

Coronel’s donation of his personal art collection before his death prompted the creation of the Museo Pedro Coronel, inaugurated in 1985 by President
Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic an ...
in the city of Zacatecas. It is located in the former Real Colegio y Seminario de San Luis Gonzada, which was a
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
school founded in 1616. It later was run by the
Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...
in 1785 as the Colegio de la Purísima Concepción. From the 19th century to 1962, it was a jail. In 1983 it was reconditioned for its current use as a museum. The Museo Pedro Coronel sponsors an art competition in his name called the Pedro Coronel Biennal, sponsored by the state of Zacatecas along with
CONACULTA The Secretariat of Culture () — formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( or CONACULTA) before being elevated to ministerial level in 2015 — is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums and monuments ...
and
Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura (INBAL, ), located in the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, is the Mexican institution in charge of coordinating artistic and cultural activities (both at the political and the educati ...
. However, despite the existence of the museum it is not easy to see the works of the painter in public. In 2010 the Miguel Alemán Foundation signed an agreement with the institution to preserve and promote the painter’s work.


See also

* Rafael Coronel, his younger brother, also a renowned painter.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coronel Arroyo, Pedro 1922 births 1985 deaths 20th-century Mexican painters Mexican male painters People from Zacatecas City Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda" alumni 20th-century Mexican sculptors 20th-century Mexican male artists