1899

He is born August 26 in Oaxaca City.

1910-1919

In 1917 he enters the National School of Plastic Arts in Mexico City as a regular student.

1920-1929

In his first works he reveals an affinity for the painting of the time, although his personal style differs from the national style.

1930-1939

He paints still-lifes and urban landscapes that put him in line with the descendents of Cézanne. From this road, he will later arrive at Braque. Other canvases appear with a more free and lyrical inspiration, defined by the exaltation of color.

1940-1949

First great creative period of the artist. He lives in New York, where he resides nearly twenty years. He travels for the first time to Europe and exhibits in Paris, London, and Rome. He shares more in common with his contemporaries Dubuffet, Fautrier, Bacon, Balthus, and De Kooning than with Matta and Lam. In a series of violent canvases he discovers the metaphorical capacity of color and form.

1950-1959

He consolidates his fame in Mexico and abroad. He finishes eight murals, among them: The Birth of Our Nationality, Mexico Today, and Homage to the Indian Race. Lithograph becomes a field of innovation for him.

1960-1969

In 1962, he definitively returns to Mexico. He finalizes six more murals and graphic work. His last creations reveal refinement and great craftsmanship in relation to the earthiness achieved in his paintings.

1970-1979

The abundant pictorial creation of the artist runs parallel to his graphic production. In the former, there are measured compositions together with efficient reductions; in the latter, he uses different materials and collage to obtain unlimited textures and qualities.

1980-1989

The plastic rigor and the imagination that transforms and exalts the object defines his painting in this decade. The complex synthesis to which the artist has arrived includes Pre-Columbian art and the vanguard movements of the century.

1991

His yearning to continuing living is slowly extinguished, although not his energy to continue the most important work of his life: painting. He dies June 24, 1991.