José Clemente Orozco. 1883-1949

Mexican artist, Jose Clemente Orozco studied engineering and architecture in Mexico City and then enrolled at the Academia San Carlos to study art. His interest in the art and architecture of the Toltecs and Mayas was evident in his paintings, giving his work a distinctive quality that separated him from the European Expressionists. Because of his revolutionary and political beliefs, his paintings often chronicle the dramatic social changes and events in Mexico during his Orozco's lifetime. Between 1917 and 1934, he sporadically worked in the United States and muralist and decorative painter for several public buildings.