An interesting new artistic movement appeared in Mexico in the 1950s. It was called La Ruptura—the rupture, or the Breakaway Generation, because they rebelled against the established Mexican School of Painting, which was basically muralism. They felt that muralism had become too formulaic, nationalistic, and too deferential to the government.
Muralism itself had at one time been the shiny new object when it began as a revolutionary art movement in the 1920s. Its goal was the glorification of Mexico's mestizo identity, in tandem with the ideals of the Mexican Revolution that ran between 1910 and 1920. Artists painted murals celebrating the ideas of the Mexican Revolution, an intersection of art and government propaganda. The most important muralists of the time were David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco and Diego Rivera. In San Miguel we have an entire room painted by Siqueiros, a mural he never completed, but magnificent nonetheless. It’s in the former Las Monjas convent, now the Cultural Center el Nigromante.
Momentous changes took place with the promotion of education for all. Millions of classical books were printed and distributed throughout schools, permanent and traveling libraries were founded, and support grew for the diffusion of art in all its forms. Muralism in Mexico became a means of promoting the past of the nation, and honoring the indigenous population and Mesoamerican culture. Over the next several decades many murals were produced, generally related to politics, national identity, and Mesoamerican cultural history. Once again, in San Miguel we have many examples of great murals painted by several artists of renown: Pedro Martinez, Eleanor Coen, Federico Cantu, James Pinto, John Melim, Alberto Tommi, and even native son David Leonardo Chavez who continues to paint in our city.
But everything fresh and new becomes old and stale with time. While Muralism was in its apogee, some artists began to search for new ways of expressing themselves, to break away from the dogmatic teachings in visual art which focused on producing murals with a certain social message. Perhaps the official start of a new artistic movement came in the 1950s when Jose Luis Cuevas accused the established artistic community of having turned dogmatic, formulaic, nationalistic and deferential to government. He, and other young artists felt that modern times meant looking forward, not dwelling on the past as Muralism had been doing. They did not look upon the past with nostalgia; planted firmly in the present they had their vision fixed on the future, and new ways of expressing themselves, in all arts—writing, music, and visual arts.
The Ruptura artists had to fight for a space in the cultural world of Mexico, and not finding enough support, many went to the United States where their works were well received, displayed in museums such as MOMA in New York, and sold for substantial sums. With their success abroad, Mexico began to appreciate the new styles brought by the Ruptura artists and their new trends in painting and sculpture. This new generation of artists did not have one particular style, their interest was in depicting personal rather than social issues, and they were influenced by international trends such as Abstract expressionism. By the end of the 1950s they were clearly on the artistic vanguard, with their works shown in major venues in Mexico with overwhelming appreciation from the public.
One artist of the period who lived in San Miguel during the 1940s and 50s was Rufino Tamayo. He and his wife Olga owned a house called “La Gloria” at the Mirador, high on the hill overlooking the city. Although Tamayo was not a true Ruptura artist, he was a pioneer in breaking the connection with the muralism movement, and developed his own unique style in painting. He may be considered part of the bridge that connected and also separated the two artistic movements. Aside from painting, he also photographed the city and its environs, leaving these photos in a major collection in his Museo Tamayo in Mexico City. Rufino Tamayo died in 1991 at the age of 91 years. Below is a photo of his house in San Miguel.
Rufino Tamayo’s early rupture with the muralist movement was more than a simple divergence. His mythical-poetic vision of national history, his concept of man as a universal entity, and his vocation for international integration inevitably distanced him from the local canons established by the so-called big three of Mexican muralism.
His mural Dualidad, Duality, harkens back to the mythology of the Aztecs, and modern Mexican folklore. But it shows significant differences from the traditional muralists in that it reflects the influence of European modernists such as Matisse and Picasso. Political and social ideology is not in-your-face, as it is in the traditional muralists’ works; it is there however in its acknowledgement of what it means to be a Mexican. But it is his nod to the painters of France, and to other international painters, as well as his eventual painting on canvas that showed his early diversion from the muralists, and his role as a bridge to the new Ruptura painters.
Two other works of Tamayo are shown above, the first is titled Still Life, and the second on the right is Five to Three. The former is almost purely figurative, but the latter has definite surrealist tendencies.
A true Ruptura artist of renown who is still alive, is Arnaldo Coen who is now 84 years old. He spent time in San Miguel, however his connection to our city now is through the Casa de La Canal, Banamex, where 42 of his works are on display. The work shown below, for example, has definite surreal elements, with a subtle nod to Maurits Cornelis Escher.
His artistic trajectory includes painting, sculpture, body art, scenery and costumes for dance and theater. The exhibit of Arnoldo Coen at Casa de la Canal is a wonderful retrospective of a major artistic movement as well as that of an artist. The Ruptura (Breakaway) artistic movement was never truly defined, or deliberate. For the Breakaway artists, style was more than anything a statement of freedom of expression, a true breaking-away from the past.
Above, Arnoldo Coen sits before two of his works that integrate the Per-versiones (Per-versions) portion of his exhibit. These works, his latest, were done during the pandemic and are a series of 16 paintings in black, white, and gold; inspired by the Japanese technique kintsugi.
The complete current exhibit may be seen Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 am to 6 pm, and is totally free, and will run through March 9, 2025. In addition, there are free guided tours daily at 10:30, 12:30, and 4:30pm.
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