The Fanatic (El fanático)

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The Fanatic (El fanático)

Mexico, circa 1935
Paintings
Oil on laminated paperboard
Frame: 46 1/2 × 38 3/4 × 1 3/4 in. (118.11 × 98.43 × 4.45 cm)
Gift of Dr. Electa Arenal and Julie Arenal Primus in memory of Rose Beigel Arenal (M.2002.192)
Latin American Art
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

The Fanatic (El fanático) shows a bound figure compressed in an architectural space–an allusion to the physical and psychological entrapment of workers....
The Fanatic (El fanático) shows a bound figure compressed in an architectural space–an allusion to the physical and psychological entrapment of workers. Closely associated with David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896–1974), Luis Arenal Bastar was a political activist who collaborated with Siqueiros on several mural projects in the United States and Mexico, and also experimented with new techniques. In 1937, Arenal was a founding member of the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP), a collective center for the creation of sociopolitical art. Ilona Katzew, 2008
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Bibliography

  • Manthorne, Katherine. California Mexicana: Missions to Murals, 1820-1930. Laguna Beach: Laguna Art Museum, 2017.
  • Haskell, Barbara, ed. Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945. New York: Whitney Museum of Art ; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020.

Exhibition history

  • Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945 New York, NY, Whitney Museum of American Art, July 1, 2020 - January 31, 2021