The painter, muralist and teacher Arturo Estrada Hernández, member of the legendary group The Fridos, Because they are students of Frida Kahlo at the La Esmeralda National School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving, they will celebrate 100 years on July 30.
Last September 23 The Güero Estrada, as he is nicknamed, received the Gold Fine Arts Medal in Visual Arts 2024, awarded by the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (Inbal), in recognition of his career as a painter. In his speech, the Frido expressed: “Throughout my career I have had the privilege of knowing and collaborating with some of the greatest Mexican painters.
Each meeting, each conversation, each exchange of ideas, has been an invaluable source of inspiration and learning. These teachers have not only enriched my artistic vision, but have helped me have my own voice in the vast and vibrant panorama of Mexican art.
At the same time, he said he was proud to have the opportunity to train new talents in the area of plastic arts: Transmitting knowledge, techniques and, above all, passion for art to new generations has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. They are the present of Mexican art and knowing that I have been able to contribute to that training is a source of great personal satisfaction.
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Originally from Panindícuaro, Michoacán, already with artistic interests, Estrada moved to Mexico City in 1941 to attend high school, studies that he combined with his entry to La Esmeralda where he had the tutelage of Diego Rivera, Raúl Anguiano, José Chávez Morado and Kahlo. By 1943 he had become one of Kahlo’s private students, a group known as The Fridos, also made up of Arturo García Bustos, Guillermo Monroy and Fanny Rabel.
That same year he began as a muralist under the direction of Kahlo, painting the façade of the La Rosita pulqueria, on the streets of London and Aguayo, in Coyoacán. The execution of We love peace and the world upside down for beauty, Made in oil on flattening, it was part of the study program of the painter’s four disciples. It was inaugurated on the morning of June 19 with a popular festival.
In 1945, Estrada began teaching at La Esmeralda. He taught the subjects oil painting and tempera, mural painting and nude workshop. He was director of the school from 1983 to 1985 and recognized as an emeritus professor by the Ministry of Public Education in 1988, although he remained active in teaching.
As a member of the group of Young Revolutionary Artists, he participated in traveling exhibitions presented on market days in Coyoacán, Tacubaya, Azcapotzalco, in the Santa María la Ribera neighborhood and in the Chapultepec forest.
Invited by Rivera, he began to practice on the natural stone mosaics that decorate the ceilings of what is now the Diego Rivera Anahuacalli Museum. He then collaborated with the muralist on the Ciudad Universitaria stadium.
He supported José Clemente Orozco on the exterior mural of the National Teachers’ School, and participated with Juan O’Gorman on the building of the Ministry of Communications and Public Works. In 1956 he entered the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, of which he has been a very active member.
He Frido He was highly awarded from the beginning of his career. In 1957, at the discretion of Marcel Duchamp, he received a scholarship from the William and Noma Copley Foundation, of which the surrealist artist was an advisor. The resource allowed him to undertake a study trip through museums in Europe. Byzantine and Armenian art exerted great influence on him.
Although he has done easel work, Estrada is known for his work on murals, which remains faithful to the figurative and ideological style of Mexican muralism. From his time as a student and to date, capture the social situation of the moment has been the main motivation and guide
of his work on the walls of public buildings.
Estrada has a long list of mural works carried out in various parts of the country, both in public and private spaces.
Last July, on the occasion of his 99th birthday, an exhibition was organized for him at the Reyes Heroles Culture House, in Coyoacán.