Who is José Clemente Orozco?
“Art is knowledge at the service of emotion”
José Clemente Orozco was born November 23, 1883 and died September 7, 1949. He was a Mexican muralist who created real and impressive paintings. Orozco was born during the Mexican revolution; he was able to overcome poverty and traveled to the US and Europe to an art institution.
Life- Hood
Teenage Years: At 15 years old, he left his city to travel to the countryside, where he was forced to study agricultural engineering. After news of his father death and almost a near death experience himself, he went back to school and immediately started to take art classes at San Carlos Academy. Around this time, he was certain that his career was in art, but tragedy happened. He was involved in an accident that left his arm and wrist injured, after taking days to see a doctor, his left hand had to be amputated. As he was healing. the Mexican Revolution was rising, he started to realize the suffering of his people and of himself. Understanding hardship, Orozco noticed the effects of the Mexican Revolution. He understood the powerful fact that art has an expression on political; revolt, so he based his life work on showing the experiences and challenges of the revolution.
Career
His first solo exhibit was titled "The House of Tears", which was the preview of the lives of women working in the red-light city district. After a while, Orozco started to create murals, the idea was from the government, he had to paint murals that broadcasted a message. He only painted murals a short while, however the painting stuck, and he became one of the top three Mexican Muralists.
Orozco focused on human suffering, so he would visit and demonstrate the scene of the lives and struggles of the working class and peasants. He married and created a family, but after a few years, Orozco left his family and moved to the US. He created many pieces in the US, one of his famous ones is "The Epic of American Civilization".
After a few spent in the US; he returned to Mexico, to his wife and children. He gained recognition in the US, allowing him to paint and create frescoes in Mexico. One of his famous frescoes is "The People and It's Leaders”. Orozco was a renowned artist that showed the struggle and real life of people.
Death