ALFREDO RAMOS MARTINEZ (1871 - 1946) ALFREDO RAMOS MARTINEZ was born on November 12, 1872, in Monterrey, in the state of Nuevo Leon, Mexico. His father, Jacobo Ramos, a middle-class storekeeper, and his mother, Luisa Martinez de Ramos were strongly supportive of young Alfredo's artistic endeavors and at the impressionable age of only nine years old, he sent a portrait he had painted of the governor of Nuevo Leon to a competition in San Antonio, Texas and was awarded first prize. Ramos Martinez spent eight years at the prestigious Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, an experience that left him resentful as he believed the system devalued any sense of individuality in an artist. Fed up with the monotony of drawing from plaster casts, he often wandered away from the academy to paint scenes from ordinary life. His work caught the attention of American Phoebe Hearst, who arranged to financially support his studies abroad. In 1897, he arrived in Paris and continued his studies in the streets of the city embracing the style of the Post-Impressionists. It was here in Europe that Ramos Martinez began to paint on newsprint. As he explained later in an interview, while visiting Brittany in preparation for his Salon exhibition, he ran out of sketch paper. He asked his landlord if he had access to any good paper. When the landlord returned, he offered Ramos Martinez a stack of newspapers, which the artist reluctantly accepted. Ramos Martinez returned to Mexico in 1910 and three years later he was appointed the Director of the National Academy. Although he protested at first, "I am the enemy of all academies," he later accepted the offer when he realized he had strong support from the students. He opened the first of his Escuelas de Pintura al Aire Libre (Open Air Schools of Painting) with an enrollment of ten boys, including a rebellious youth named David Alfaro Siqueiros, soon to become one of the most important Mexican muralists. Taking its cue from the Impressionist concept of painting in the outdoors, this revolutionary program initiated changes in both the theoretical and practical approaches to painting in Mexico bringing arts education within the reach of people of all walks of life. Modernist painter Rufino Tamayo, who studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes from 1917 through 1921, credited Ramos Martinez for directing him "toward Impressionism." Ramos Martinez married Maria de Sodi Romero in 1928 and a year later their daughter, Maria, was born with a crippling bone disease. Greatly grieved by her suffering, Ramos Martinez and his family left Mexico in 1930 seeking medical attention for her in the United States. They settled in Los Angeles where her condition was successfully treated. These circumstances would catapult Ramos Martinez's art in a new direction. The works produced in California at this time are abruptly modern, yet they focus on prevailing themes of the Mexican renaissance. He turns to the subjects he adored: the humble yet monumental Indian, the dramatic landscapes of Mexico and religious themes that reveal the fervent spirituality shared by his people. He explores the parameters of volume and space in his enormous oil on canvas portraits and his lyrical language of line and color are revealed in his elegant gouaches. The tender embrace of a mother and child, a grouping of vendedoras masterfully balancing baskets of abundant, colorful fruit on their heads, or a depiction of a processional of indigenous women dressed in warm tones of yellows and golds paying homage to the pre- Colombian deity, Quetzalcoatl, are beautifully rendered and even further dramatized by the texture of his chosen medium of newsprint. Ramos Martinez was commissioned to paint numerous murals throughout the United States and Mexico including, the celebrity homes of Jo Swerling, Edith Head and Beulah Bondi, the Chapman Park Hotel, Scripps College in Claremont California and the Normal School for Teachers in Mexico City. His work was exhibited throughout California including the Los Angeles County Museum, the Assistance League Gallery in Hollywood, the Faulkner Gallery in Santa Barbara, and the San Francisco Museum of Art. In 1945, he had a one man show at the Dalzell Hatfield Galleries and the following year at Lillenfeld Gallery in New York City. After his death in 1946, his works were highlighted in several memorial retrospectives including Dalzell-Hatfield Galleries in 1951-1952, Los Angeles City College in 1953, at Scripps College in 1956 and in 1975 the Dalzell-Hatfield Galleries featured "Alfredo Ramos Martinez: A Treasure Trove Exhibition." In 1992, Louis Stern Galleries presented a prominent retrospective exhibition of his work and continues to represent the estate. Although considered by many to be the founding father of Modern Mexican Art, Ramos Martinez's astounding contributions to the development of Mexican and Southern Californian art has been dramatically overlooked. A prolific painter and an innovative teacher, Ramos Martinez has been a victim of circumstance; an inexplicable lapse in memory. At a time when Mexican art gained great momentum with the Mexican Muralist movement with such recognizable names as Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco, Ramos Martinez's substantial artistic vision had all been but erased. However, a truly great artist remains just that. "If Mexican modernism the product of the 1910 Revolution, which projected not only a utopian vision of the future, but also a return to Mexico's roots," as Hans Haufe states, "Ramos Martinez stands among the painters that initiated that movement." His legacy lives on and his work is now gaining the recognition it deservedly needs. Louis Stern Fine Arts is the exclusive representative of the Estate of Alfredo Ramos Martinez. CHRONOLOGY 1871 Born November 12 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico to Jacobo Ramos and Luisa Martinez. 1880-81 Paints portrait of the Governor of Nuevo León and wins 1st prize in a contest / exhibition in San Antonio, Texas which includes a scholarship to the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (ENBA), Mexico City. 1890 Begins his studies at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (ENBA), Mexico City, where he studies for the next eight years, excelling as a watercolorist and winning numerous awards in this medium. 1891 Participates in the XXII National Exhibition of Fine Arts with six drawings. Receives a gold medal for a pencil drawing in XXIX Competition of the State of Aguascalientes. 1897 Applies for a government grant to continue his studies in Europe. 1898 Participates in the XXIII Exhibition of the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes with sixteen watercolors. 1899 Selected to produce painted menus for a state dinner given by President Porfirio Díaz, in honor of Mrs. Phoebe Apperson Hearst (mother of William Randolph Hearst). Mrs. Hearst is so impressed that she asks to meet the young painter and subsequently offers to send him to study in Paris, providing him with an allowance of 500 francs a month. 1900 Leaves for Europe and takes up residence in Paris. Meets the Nicaraguan poet, Rubén Darío, the founder of Modernismo, marking the beginning of an influential friendship. Darío shares lodging with Ramos Martinez and with the Mexican poet, Amado Nervo. Through Darío, Ramos meets poets and artists, among them the poet Paul Verlaine and the painters Claude Monet and Joaquín Sorolla. 1902-03 Travels with Darío to the Low Countries and Palma de Mallorca, visiting museums and meeting Spanish writers and poets. 1905 Exhibits two paintings, Paisaje de las Islas Baleares (Landscape of the Balearic Isles) and Barcos en Holanda (Boats in Holland), in the Salon d'Automne in Paris. Paints Le Printemps. 1906 Wins first prize at the Salon d'Automne in Paris for his painting, Le Printemps. Ends financial dependence on Phoebe Hearst as he becomes a self-supporting, commissioned portrait painter. 1907 Shows three works at the Salon d'Automne. Paints monumental mural, La Primavera. Rubén Darío publishes "A un pintor," a poem dedicated to Alfredo Ramos Martinez in El Canto Errante (1907). 1910 Returns to Mexico. Exhibits works produced in Europe at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. Participates in the exhibition organized to celebrate the Centenary of Mexican Independence, held at the Escuela Nacional. 1911 A strike by the ENBA students favors their demands, and Ramos Martinez is appointed Assistant Director of the School. 1912 The Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes' name is changed to la Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes. 1913 Significant changes in the government lead to Martinez's appointment as Director of the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City. On the 17th of October, begins the first Open Air School of Art with ten boys, including David Alfaro Siqueiros, at Santa Anita Ixtapalapa on the outskirts of Mexico City. Recognized as a member of the Salon d'Automne of Paris. 1914 Organizes the first exhibition of works by the students of the Santa Anita School. Removed as Director of the Academy due to personnel changes within the administration. The Santa Anita Open Air School is closed. 1916 Establishes a studio on Madero Street. 1920 Renamed the Director of the Academy by José Vasconcelos, Minister of Education. Creates a new Open Air School in Chimalistac. 1923 Awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold by King Albert of Belgium in recognition of his contributions to the visual arts. 1924 Moves the Open Air School at Coyoacan to Churubusco. 1925 Founds three new schools in Xochimilco, Tlalpan, and Guadalupe Hidalgo. Exhibits works by the students of the Open Air School at the Academy Palacio de Minería (Mexico City) and at the First Pan-American Exposition in Los Angeles, California. 1926 Organizes an exhibition of works, under the sponsorship of President Plutarco Elías Calles, by the students of the Open Air Schools that travels Europe, visiting such cultural capitals as Paris, Madrid and Berlin.