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

Salt Lake City, Utah

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

, O'Higgins was raised there and in San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

. In 1922 he abandoned his first career as a pianist and entered the Academy of Arts in San Diego. Within two years he'd become a student of 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...

, assisting Rivera on his murals at the National School of Agriculture at Chapingo, and the Public Education Secretariat

Secretariat of Public Education Main Headquarters

The Secretariat of Public Education Main Headquarters building is on the northeast corner of San Ildefonso and Republica de Argentina streets in the historic center of Mexico City, and used to be part of the largest and most sumptuous convents in New Spain...

.

Like Rivera, O'Higgins became an active member of the Mexican Communist Party

Mexican Communist Party

The Mexican Communist Party was a communist party in Mexico. It was founded in 1911 as the Socialist Workers' Party by Manabendra Nath Roy, a left-wing Indian intellectual. The PSO changed its name to the Mexican Communist Party in November 1919 following the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia...

. He immigrated to Mexico permanently in 1924, joined the party in 1927, and maintained his party membership until 1947. His political illustrations for the Daily Worker

Daily Worker

The Daily Worker was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, some attempts were made to make it appear that the paper reflected a...

won him a year's study at the Academy of Art

Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture

The Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture was one of the largest educational institutions in Russia. The school was formed by the 1865 merger of a private art college, established in Moscow in 1832, and the Palace School of Architecture, established in 1749 by Dmitry Ukhtomsky. By...

 in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 on a Soviet Scholarship in 1933.

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"). In May 1940 he 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

Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...

.

In 1961 O'Higgins was awarded honorary Mexican citizenship for "his contributions to the national arts and education". His mural work can be seen at the Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market, Mexico City

Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market, Mexico City

The Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market is a traditional public market located in the historic center of Mexico City, northeast of the main plaza, or Zocalo. It was built in 1934 as a prototype for a more modern marketplace and has a number of unusual features such as day care and an auditorium...

, and his 1945 "Struggle Against Racial Discrimination" is installed in Kane Hall

Red Square (University of Washington)

Red Square, officially Central Plaza, is a large open square on the campus of the University of Washington that serves as a hub for two of the University's major axes, connecting the campus's northern Liberal Arts Quadrangle with the science and engineering buildings found on the lower campus...

 at the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 in Seattle.

Among O'Higgins' students was the American graphic designer Bob Cato

Bob Cato

Bob Cato was a graphic designer whose work in record album cover design contributed to the development of music and popular culture for five decades. He was vice president of creative services at Columbia Records, and later at United Artists.-Biography:Bob Cato was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana...

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External links

• Listings for over 145 works produced by Pablo O'Higgins during his time at the Taller de Gráfica Popular can be viewed at Gráfica Mexciana.