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Pablo Esteban O'Higgins | |
|---|---|
| Born | Paul Higgins Stevenson [1] 1 March 1904 [1] |
| Died | 16 July 1983 (aged 79) [1] |
| Nationality | Mexican, [1] American |
| Education | Academy of Arts, San Diego [1] |
| Known for | Painting |
Pablo Esteban O'Higgins (born Paul Higgins Stevenson; March 1, 1904 - July 16, 1983) was an American-Mexican artist, muralist and illustrator.
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, O'Higgins was raised there and in San Diego, California. [1] In 1922 he abandoned his first career as a pianist and entered the Academy of Arts in San Diego. [1]
Within two years he'd become a student of Diego Rivera, assisting Rivera on his murals at the National School of Agriculture at Chapingo, and the Public Education Secretariat. [2]
Like Rivera, O'Higgins became an active member of the Mexican Communist Party. [1] He immigrated to Mexico permanently in 1924, joined the party in 1927, [1] and maintained his party membership until 1947. [1] His political illustrations for the Daily Worker won him a year's study at the Academy of Art in Moscow on a Soviet Scholarship in 1933. [3]
In 1937, O'Higgins was the co-founder, with fellow artists Leopoldo Méndez and Luis Arenal, of the Taller de Gráfica Popular ("People's Graphic Workshop"). [1] The Taller became inspiration to many politically active leftist artists; for example, American expressionist painter Byron Randall went on to found similar artist collectives after becoming an associate member. [4] [5] In May 1940 O'Higgins had the honor of being the only non-native Mexican artist with work included in the seminal "Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art" exhibit organized by the Museum of Modern Art. [3]
In 1961 O'Higgins was awarded honorary Mexican citizenship for "his contributions to the national arts and education". [1] One of his murals can be seen at the Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market, Mexico City. [6]
His 1945 mural for the Ship Scalers Union Hall in Seattle is installed in Kane Hall at the University of Washington in Seattle. [7] [8] The mural depicts Seattle's Ship Scalers Union's (SSU) history as a strongly anti-racist, anti-discriminatory, and progressive force in social politics. [9]
Among O'Higgins' students was the American graphic designer Bob Cato, [10] and artist and muralist Marion Greenwood. [11]
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The Struggle against Racial Discrimination moved from the basement of Kane Hall to its second floor, which it dominates. (p. 40)[ permanent dead link ]
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