Francisco Goitia
Encyclopedia
Francisco Bollaín y Goitia García (4 October 1882 - 26 March 1960) was a realist
painter from Fresnillo
in the state of Zacatecas
, Mexico
.
Goitia studied at the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City
from 1898 under the direction of German Gedovius
, Jose Maria Velasco
, Saturnino Herran
and Julio Ruelas
. In 1904 Goitia moved to Barcelona
, Spain
under the tutelage
of the Spanish Pre-Raphaelite Francisco Galí. Goitia had his first successful exhibition at the Salon Pares. Four years later Goitia went to Rome
and became interested in classical architecture
. While in Italy Goitia held exhibitions and was awarded a medal for his work. With the fall of Porfirio Diaz
, Goitia lost his grant and was forced to return to Mexico in 1912.
During the Mexican Revolution
, Goitia worked as the official painter for General Angel of Pancho Villa
's army. Goitia claims to have disinterred executed soldiers and to have hung them on cacti as models for his "Ahorcado" ("Hung People") paintings.
After the conflict, Goitia went back to Mexico City where he matured as an artist during the era of Diego Rivera
and José Clemente Orozco
. He was given a professorship at his alma mater. Goitia painted canvases with a blend of realism and impressionism
. Goitia described painting his masterwork Tata Jesuchristo by observing Oaxaca
n peasants on the Day of the Dead for hours, until one grieving peasant stretched while crying and pointed her foot up. That gesture became the center of the composition.
Goitia lived most of his life as a hermit in self-imposed poverty in a shack near Xochimilco
. He died on 26 March 1960 of pneumonia
.
In Anita Brenner
's 1929 study of Mexican Art Idols Behind Altars, Goitia is given a full chapter and is described as the most "Mexican" of Mexican artists and as the mystic of Mexican art. In 1988 Diego Lopez made a film titled "Goitia, Un Dios Para Si Mismo", in which he relates the story of the artist as a tormented soul.
The bulk of Goitia's work is viewable in the Mexican National Art Museum (MUNAL) and in the Goitia Museum in Zacatecas
.
Realism (visual arts)
Realism in the visual arts is a style that depicts the actuality of what the eyes can see. The term is used in different senses in art history; it may mean the same as illusionism, the representation of subjects with visual mimesis or verisimilitude, or may mean an emphasis on the actuality of...
painter from Fresnillo
Fresnillo
Fresnillo /fres'nijo/ , founded in 1554 by Francisco de Ibarra, is the second largest city in Zacatecas state, north central Mexico...
in the state of Zacatecas
Zacatecas
Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas....
, Mexico
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...
.
Goitia studied at the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
from 1898 under the direction of German Gedovius
Germán Gedovius
Germán Gedovius was a Mexican painter....
, Jose Maria Velasco
José María Velasco
José María Velasco may refer to:*José María Velasco Gómez, 19th century Mexican painter*José María Velasco Ibarra , president of Ecuador*José María Velasco, México, city in Mexican state of Edomex...
, Saturnino Herran
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 Julio Ruelas
Julio Ruelas
Julio Ruelas was a Mexican graphic artist, painter, draughtsman and printmaker. Ruelas was the principal illustrator of the Revista Moderna magazine and is most associated with Mexican symbolism. A number of his works are on display at the Museum of the City of Mexico and in the Zacatecas museum...
. In 1904 Goitia moved to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
under the tutelage
Child custody
Child custody and guardianship are legal terms which are used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent and his or her child, such as the right of the parent to make decisions for the child, and the parent's duty to care for the child.Following ratification of the United...
of the Spanish Pre-Raphaelite Francisco Galí. Goitia had his first successful exhibition at the Salon Pares. Four years later Goitia went to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and became interested in classical architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. While in Italy Goitia held exhibitions and was awarded a medal for his work. With the fall of Porfirio Diaz
Porfirio Díaz
José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori was a Mexican-American War volunteer and French intervention hero, an accomplished general and the President of Mexico continuously from 1876 to 1911, with the exception of a brief term in 1876 when he left Juan N...
, Goitia lost his grant and was forced to return to Mexico in 1912.
During the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
, Goitia worked as the official painter for General Angel of Pancho Villa
Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals....
's army. Goitia claims to have disinterred executed soldiers and to have hung them on cacti as models for his "Ahorcado" ("Hung People") paintings.
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...
and 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...
. He was given a professorship at his alma mater. Goitia painted canvases with a blend of realism and impressionism
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
. Goitia described painting his masterwork Tata Jesuchristo by observing Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
n peasants on the Day of the Dead for hours, until one grieving peasant stretched while crying and pointed her foot up. That gesture became the center of the composition.
Goitia lived most of his life as a hermit in self-imposed poverty in a shack near Xochimilco
Xochimilco
Xochimilco is one of the sixteen delegaciones or boroughs within Mexican Federal District. The borough is centered on the formerly independent city of Xochimilco, which was established on what was the southern shore of Lake Xochimilco in the pre-Hispanic period...
. He died on 26 March 1960 of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
.
In Anita Brenner
Anita Brenner
Anita Brenner , an author of children's literature and books on Mexican art and history, was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Her father, a Jewish emigrant to Mexico from Latvia, moved his family back and forth from Mexico to Texas during the revolution. In 1916 the family settled in San Antonio,...
's 1929 study of Mexican Art Idols Behind Altars, Goitia is given a full chapter and is described as the most "Mexican" of Mexican artists and as the mystic of Mexican art. In 1988 Diego Lopez made a film titled "Goitia, Un Dios Para Si Mismo", in which he relates the story of the artist as a tormented soul.
The bulk of Goitia's work is viewable in the Mexican National Art Museum (MUNAL) and in the Goitia Museum in Zacatecas
Zacatecas
Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas....
.