Antonio M. Ruíz also called by friends "El Corzo" (the roe) or because of his shortness "El Corcito" (diminutive), was a Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 painter and scenic designer. His pet-names resulted of the similarity to a torero in a picture with the same title, painted by Ignacio Zuloaga

Ignacio Zuloaga

Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta was a Basque Spanish painter, born in Eibar, near the monastery of Loyola. He was the son of metalworker and damascener Plácido Zuloaga and grandson of the organizer and director of the royal armoury in Madrid.-Biography:In his youth, he drew and worked in his father's...

.

Biography

Ruíz moved to Mexico City in his childhood, together with his mother Mercedes and his step siblings. He studied architecture and painting at the Academia de San Carlos after 1914. By his own account, he was mainly influenced by Saturnino Herrán

Saturnino Herrán

Saturnino Herrán Guinchard was a Mexican painter. His mother's name was Josefa Guinchard. In 1897 he took private drawing lessons in his native city and in 1901 entered the Aguascalientes Academy of Science. He took classes with José Inés Tovilla and Severo Amador, who taught him drawing and...

 and Germán Gedovius

Germán Gedovius

Germán Gedovius was a Mexican painter....

, later by Flemish artists. From 1921 to 1924, he taught drawing in primary schools in the Distrito Federal de México. From 1925 to 1927 he worked as a scenic designer in Hollywood for his first time, and for a second time 1936. In 1943 followed Guillermo Ruiz

Guillermo Ruiz

Guillermo Ruiz is a Peruvian Chess master and US Life Master. Son of Aurora and Melquiades Ruiz. He has been married since 1974 and has 2 children....

 on his chair as director of the Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda"

Escuela Nacional de Pintura, Escultura y Grabado "La Esmeralda"

La Esmeralda - National School of Painting, Sculpture and Printmaking is a Mexican art school located in Mexico City....

. Ruíz reformed the "Esmeralda" basically, so that it became an official art school of the Secretaría de Educación Pública

Secretaría de Educación Pública

The Secretaría de Educación Pública is a Mexican federal government authority with Cabinet representation and responsibility for overseeing the development and implementation of national educational policy and school standards in Mexico.Additionally, it has the following responsibilities:*Creation...

.. Better friends of him were Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo de Rivera was a Mexican painter, born in Coyoacán, and perhaps best known for her self-portraits....

, Juan O'Gorman

Juan O'Gorman

Juan O'Gorman was a Mexican painter and architect.-Biography:O'Gorman was born in Coyoacán, then a village to the south of Mexico City and now a borough of the Federal District, to an Irish father, Cecil Crawford O'Gorman and a Mexican mother...

, Gabriel Fernández Ledesma

Gabriel Fernández Ledesma

Gabriel Fernández Ledesma was a Mexican painter, printmaker, sculptor, graphic artist, writer and teacher. He has been described as one of the most prolific artists in Mexican modern art.-Biography:...

 and Miguel Covarrubias, who gave the impetus to his six mobile murals, titled "Peagent of the Pacific".