Alfredo Ramos Martinezartist • painterMonterrey (Mexico) 1871-1946 Los Angeles (Verenigde Staten)

Mexican artist Alfredo Ramos Martinez was born in 1871 as the son of a prosperous fabric manufacturer. Due to his exceptional artistic talent, he was admitted to the then prestigious Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. There he received a classical education. Strongly impressed by the work of the French Impressionists, he left for Paris in 1900 for further studies, financially supported by the American benefactor Phoebe Apperson Hearst. In Paris, the painter becomes acquainted with the work of Van Gogh, Matisse, Monet and Seurat. From 1905 he took part in the Salons d'Automne and traveled with the poet Rubén Darío through Europe, including the Netherlands. In 1910 he returns to Mexico, where he is active in setting up so-called 'Open air schools' for young painters. They work outside and often the subjects are taken from Mexican culture. Ramos Martinez is therefore called one of the founders of Mexican Modernism.