Arnold Belkin
Encyclopedia
Arnold Belkin was a Mexican
painter
and mural
artist. Born in Canada, he moved to Mexico to be closer to the Mexican artists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Siquerios. In the '50s he befriended the latter, collaborating with him on two murals in Mexico City. He went from figural to abstract back to figural in his later years. Belkin was most successful in the 1970s showing in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba, and he founded the muralism workshops at La Esmeralda and the National School for Plastic Arts (UNAM University).
Son of Mexican Muralism." Arnold's father was a Russian Jew and his mother was an
English
Jew (Greenberg).
Belkin attended the Vancouver School of Art where he developed a profound interest in muralism. Choosing it as his path, he decided to meet and learn personally from the great muralism of the time, the Mexicans Diego Rivera
, José Clemente Orozco
and David Alfaro Siqueiros
.
Arriving in Mexico City at the age of 18, Belkin attended La Esmeralda Art School and the INBA School for Painting and Sculpture. He also learned modern art techniques at the Jose Gutierrez’ Workshop on Materials and Plastics. In 1950, only two years after arriving in Mexico he created his first Mural (!El Pueblo No Quiere La Guerra!) a fresco at the National Polytechnic Institute
, which was later destroyed.
In his early artistic period, Belkin’s works reflected Mexican folklore
especially relating to festivities and death. Belkin was deeply impressed by the new culture he was witnessing and responded by drawing figures of Mexican natives, scenes of popular festivities and funeral processions.
In the early 1950s he met Siqueiros and befriended him. He collaborated with him in the making of Patricios y Patricidas a mural at the Customs Office and Cuauhtémoc
a mural at the Palacio de Bellas Artes
, both in Mexico City. At Belkin’s first solo exhibition, in November 1952, Siqueiros praised him his catalogue for his themes and innovations.
From very early on and throughout his life, Belkin had immense pleasure in designing costumes for the Mexican theater and ballet. For him body movement and rhythm were intensely related to plastic expression. Belkin also enjoyed traveling to the interior of his adopted country, where he found inspiration for his works.
Belkin rounded out his formative stage by learning metal engraving at the workshop of Lola Cueto
and lithography at the Book Arts School. He also collaborated at the workshop of Guillermo Silva Santamaria
.
By 1956 Belkin was being highly sought. That year he painted La Bahia de Acapulco at the Continental Hilton Hotel (destroyed in the earthquake of 1985) and was named Professor of Mural Techniques at the Universidad de las Americas
. A year later he did Escenas de Don Quijote in the city of Cuernavaca
.
His famous Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
, a portable mural, was painted in 1959, and in the years 1960 and 1961 he completed Todos Somos Culpables at the Mexico City Penitenciary.
With Francisco Icaza, Francisco Corzas
, Jose Luis Cuevas
, Rafael Coronel
, Leonel Góngora and Nacho López he formed the group "Nueva Presencia," which characterized a style with elements of Expressionism
and modern figurative painting; the themes denounced injustice, repression and war.
Belkin won, in 1963, the "Adquisicion INBA" Prize for El Hombre Si Tiene Futuro. That same year he had an exhibit in Los Angeles
, California
, at the Zora Gallery, and was one of four artists (with Siqueiros, Icaza, and Tamayo
) invited to represent Mexico at the International Award Exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum
in New York
.
At this point, Belkin’s style transformed into abstraction
. This artistic evolution manifests itself by a shift that would be the basis for his personal signature in the works of his later life. Most of his murals, however retain a figurative base as it can be appreciated in his 1966 magnificent mural The Jewish Holidays, painted for the newly built headquarters of the Ashkenazi Jewish
Community, at 70 Acapulco Street in Mexico City.
Two years later he moved to Europe
where he is influenced by the muralist style of the old masters, and decided to live in New York
for a while where he experimented with new styles and exchanged ideas with other Latin American (and U.S.
) painters. At this time his abstract period ended, and he returned to figurative painting.
While a resident artist at Lock Haven University, Pennsylvania
, he finished his first mural in the US: Las Humanidades (1971). In 1972 and 1973 he painted Against Domestic Colonialism (in New York’s Hell's Kitchen
) and Epimeteo (Dumont High School, New Jersey
).
As of 1974 and until his death, Belkin’s themes took on historical backgrounds and his style turns easily recognizable as his own. The colors, circles, shadows, body elements, all become identifiable as his.
Belkin’s fame in the seventies lead to exhibitions in the US, Puerto Rico
, Venezuela
, Colombia
and Cuba
. He founded the workshops specializing in muralism at La Esmeralda and at the National School for Plastic Arts (UNAM
University)
In the years 1978-1979 he painted The Sephardic
Migration in Mexico, which can be seen at the Monte Sinai Social Center in Mexico City. His greatest mural is arguably the one he finished at The Metropolitan University
at Iztapalapa
, Mexico. It consists of four monumental projects (1983).
He married Mexican painter Patricia Quijano Ferrer, who collaborated with his projects.
In the last decade of his life, Belkin’s prolific work was characterized by great dynamism and theme innovation. He completed hundreds of works, not only murals at government buildings and universities, but painted oils, acrylics and other media, as well as sculpture. He died at 62.
Belkin is ranked by Artists Trade Union of Russia
amongst the world-best artists of the last four centuries.
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
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
artist. Born in Canada, he moved to Mexico to be closer to the Mexican artists Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and David Siquerios. In the '50s he befriended the latter, collaborating with him on two murals in Mexico City. He went from figural to abstract back to figural in his later years. Belkin was most successful in the 1970s showing in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Colombia and Cuba, and he founded the muralism workshops at La Esmeralda and the National School for Plastic Arts (UNAM University).
Life & Career
Belkin has often been referred as "The CanadianCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Son of Mexican Muralism." Arnold's father was a Russian Jew and his mother was an
English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
Jew (Greenberg).
Belkin attended the Vancouver School of Art where he developed a profound interest in muralism. Choosing it as his path, he decided to meet and learn personally from the great muralism of the time, the Mexicans Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
, José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco
José Clemente Orozco was a Mexican social realist painter, who specialized in bold murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and others...
and David Alfaro Siqueiros
David Alfaro Siqueiros
José David Alfaro Siqueiros was a social realist painter, known for his large murals in fresco that helped establish the Mexican Mural Renaissance, together with works by Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, and also a member of the Mexican Communist Party who participated in an...
.
Arriving in Mexico City at the age of 18, Belkin attended La Esmeralda Art School and the INBA School for Painting and Sculpture. He also learned modern art techniques at the Jose Gutierrez’ Workshop on Materials and Plastics. In 1950, only two years after arriving in Mexico he created his first Mural (!El Pueblo No Quiere La Guerra!) a fresco at the National Polytechnic Institute
National Polytechnic Institute
The National Polytechnic Institute colloquially known as the Polytechnic is one of the largest public universities in Mexico with 153.027 students at the high school, undergraduate and postgraduate levels...
, which was later destroyed.
In his early artistic period, Belkin’s works reflected Mexican folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
especially relating to festivities and death. Belkin was deeply impressed by the new culture he was witnessing and responded by drawing figures of Mexican natives, scenes of popular festivities and funeral processions.
In the early 1950s he met Siqueiros and befriended him. He collaborated with him in the making of Patricios y Patricidas a mural at the Customs Office and Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521...
a mural at the Palacio de Bellas Artes
Palacio de Bellas Artes
The Palacio de Bellas Artes is the most important cultural center in Mexico City as well as the rest of the country of Mexico...
, both in Mexico City. At Belkin’s first solo exhibition, in November 1952, Siqueiros praised him his catalogue for his themes and innovations.
From very early on and throughout his life, Belkin had immense pleasure in designing costumes for the Mexican theater and ballet. For him body movement and rhythm were intensely related to plastic expression. Belkin also enjoyed traveling to the interior of his adopted country, where he found inspiration for his works.
Belkin rounded out his formative stage by learning metal engraving at the workshop of Lola Cueto
Lola Cueto
Dolores, better known as "Lola" Cueto was a Mexican painter, printmaker, puppet designer and puppeteer. She always used the last name of her husband, the painter and sculptor Germán Cueto...
and lithography at the Book Arts School. He also collaborated at the workshop of Guillermo Silva Santamaria
Guillermo Silva Santamaria
Guillermo Silva Santamaria was a Colombian painter, printmaker and Surrealist-External links:*...
.
By 1956 Belkin was being highly sought. That year he painted La Bahia de Acapulco at the Continental Hilton Hotel (destroyed in the earthquake of 1985) and was named Professor of Mural Techniques at the Universidad de las Americas
Fundación Universidad de las Américas, Puebla
Universidad de las Américas Puebla , is a private university in Mexico. It is located in San Andrés Cholula, Puebla, a suburb of Puebla. The university is known for its programs in Arts and Humanities, Social sciences, Science and Engineering, and Business and Economics...
. A year later he did Escenas de Don Quijote in the city of Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It was established at the archeological site of Gualupita I by the Olmec, "the mother culture" of Mesoamerica, approximately 3200 years ago...
.
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
, a portable mural, was painted in 1959, and in the years 1960 and 1961 he completed Todos Somos Culpables at the Mexico City Penitenciary.
With Francisco Icaza, Francisco Corzas
Francisco Corzas
Francisco Corzas Chávez was a Mexican painter and printmaker who extablished himself as a leading Expressionist artist in the 1960s and '70s....
, Jose Luis Cuevas
Jose Luis Cuevas
José Luis Cuevas is a modernist painter and sculptor from Mexico. Born in 1934, Cuevas derived most of his training outside of the academies. He is considered to be one of the artists from the 1950s in the Rupture Generation that was departing from the politicized and stylized mural school of...
, Rafael Coronel
Rafael Coronel
Rafael Coronel is a painter from Mexico. He was the son-in-law of Diego Rivera. His representational paintings have a melancholic sobriety, and include faces from the past great masters, often floating in a diffuse haze.There are some paintings of his own in Mexico and in other countries...
, Leonel Góngora and Nacho López he formed the group "Nueva Presencia," which characterized a style with elements of Expressionism
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
and modern figurative painting; the themes denounced injustice, repression and war.
Belkin won, in 1963, the "Adquisicion INBA" Prize for El Hombre Si Tiene Futuro. That same year he had an exhibit in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, at the Zora Gallery, and was one of four artists (with Siqueiros, Icaza, and Tamayo
Rufino Tamayo
Rufino Tamayo was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico. Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, painting figurative abstraction with surrealist influences....
) invited to represent Mexico at the International Award Exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
At this point, Belkin’s style transformed into abstraction
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
. This artistic evolution manifests itself by a shift that would be the basis for his personal signature in the works of his later life. Most of his murals, however retain a figurative base as it can be appreciated in his 1966 magnificent mural The Jewish Holidays, painted for the newly built headquarters of the Ashkenazi Jewish
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
Community, at 70 Acapulco Street in Mexico City.
Two years later he moved to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
where he is influenced by the muralist style of the old masters, and decided to live in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
for a while where he experimented with new styles and exchanged ideas with other Latin American (and U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) painters. At this time his abstract period ended, and he returned to figurative painting.
While a resident artist at Lock Haven University, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, he finished his first mural in the US: Las Humanidades (1971). In 1972 and 1973 he painted Against Domestic Colonialism (in New York’s Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton and Midtown West, is a neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City between 34th Street and 59th Street, from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River....
) and Epimeteo (Dumont High School, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
).
As of 1974 and until his death, Belkin’s themes took on historical backgrounds and his style turns easily recognizable as his own. The colors, circles, shadows, body elements, all become identifiable as his.
Belkin’s fame in the seventies lead to exhibitions in the US, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. He founded the workshops specializing in muralism at La Esmeralda and at the National School for Plastic Arts (UNAM
Unam
UNAM or UNaM may refer to:* National University of Misiones, a National University in Posadas, Argentina*National Autonomous University of Mexico , the large public autonomous university based in Mexico City...
University)
In the years 1978-1979 he painted The Sephardic
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
Migration in Mexico, which can be seen at the Monte Sinai Social Center in Mexico City. His greatest mural is arguably the one he finished at The Metropolitan University
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana
The Metropolitan Autonomous University is a public university located in Mexico City, Mexico...
at Iztapalapa
Iztapalapa
Iztapalapa is one of the Federal District of Mexico City’s 16 boroughs, located on the east side of the entity. The borough is named after and centered on the formerly independent municipality of Iztapalapa, which is officially called Iztapalapa de Cuitláhuac for disambiguation purposes...
, Mexico. It consists of four monumental projects (1983).
He married Mexican painter Patricia Quijano Ferrer, who collaborated with his projects.
In the last decade of his life, Belkin’s prolific work was characterized by great dynamism and theme innovation. He completed hundreds of works, not only murals at government buildings and universities, but painted oils, acrylics and other media, as well as sculpture. He died at 62.
Belkin is ranked by Artists Trade Union of Russia
Artists Trade Union of Russia
Artists Trade Union of Russia is an All-Russian trade union of artists , art historians, museum and gallery workers etc.- About :...
amongst the world-best artists of the last four centuries.