Art/biography/Latin America
PABLO O'HIGGINS
Becoming Pablo O'Higgins tells the intriguing story of how
a blond-haired, blue-eyed Presbyterian from Utah became
a celebrated Mexican muralist and "Chicano" artist. Born
Paul Higgins in 1904, O'Higgins boldly traveled to Mexico
at age 20 and became an assistant to Diego Rivera. He
co-founded the world-famous graphic art workshop, the
Taller de Gráfica Popular. O'Higgins produced more than
a dozen murals in Mexico and two in the U.S. (Seattle and
Hawaii) and taught at the California Labor School in San
Francisco. Upon his death, the Mexican government gave
him a state funeral. O'Higgins's life was as stormy as
Mexico's revolutionary politics of the last century. He was
a member of the Communist Party and blacklisted by the
U.S. during the McCarthy era. Today O'Higgins is an
inspiration to artists in the U.S., especially those seeking to
produce socially-conscious, community-based art. He is
admired not only for his art but for his love of Mexico and
his determination to bridge the two countries through art.
Detail from Historical Mural, Chicano Park, San Diego, 1973
PINCE-NEZ
PRESS
9781930 074217
978-1-930074-21-7
52495