Francisco Toledo, Celebrated Mexican Artist and Arts Philanthropist, Dies at 79

[Eugene]

Source: New York Times

Francisco Toledo, Celebrated Mexican Artist and Arts Philanthropist, Dies at 79

He drew on his indigenous Zapotec heritage in his art and used his prestige to preserve the culture of his native Oaxaca.

By Jonathan Kandell
Sept. 6, 2019
Updated 8:02 p.m. ET

Francisco Toledo, the celebrated Mexican artist and cultural philanthropist who drew on his indigenous pre-Colombian heritage to create striking works suffused with shamanistic animal imagery, died on Thursday. He was 79.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador of Mexico announced the death on Twitter, calling Mr. Toledo “a true defender of nature, customs and traditions of our people.” No other details were given.

Mr. Toledo was regarded by many as Mexico’s greatest living artist, one who could trace his lineage to the Zapotecs, who flourished before the 16th-century Spanish conquests in what is now the southern state of Oaxaca, his native region. His paintings, drawings, prints, collages, tapestries and ceramics were largely inspired by that heritage.

The scorpions and grasshoppers and alligators, monkeys and tapirs that he encountered in his childhood appear in his art as symbols and metaphors, alluding to everything from sex and fertility to a dying natural landscape.

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Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/arts/design/francisco-toledo-dead.html

[Judi Lynn]

1. Super energy, productivity, such an active imagination, completely unique style.

He must have exhausted people who tried to keep up with him.

May he rest in peace.

[pansypoo53219]

2. had to google him.

interesting art.