(The atmosphere of Mexico); Untitled ink wash drawing.

Arturo Garcia Bustos

A soft, ethereal sky sets the mood for this ink wash drawing of a Mexican landscape. A dedication penned in the lower margin reads in Spanish, “For Sy and Millie / this ink drawing / with the atmosphere of Mexico,” suggesting that he is giving the gift of memory to mark a happy time with friends in his beloved homeland.

Bustos traveled throughout the world to learn and to teach printmaking and muralism, but always returned to Mexico. From a young age he was entranced by the vibrant art world of Mexico City, and the power of the luminaries who upheld it as an international hub for the artistic expression of political and cultural movements. He loved every region, whether mountainous or coastal, that he traveled to. In this drawing we see the arrival of summer storm clouds over a gently hilly landscape, marked by sparse shrubs and agave, creating an atmosphere of vastness and quietude with the softest of brushstrokes.

From the estate of American/Mexican printmaker and early TGP member Seymour Kaplan. The watercolor is annotated "Para Sy y Millie esta tinta / con aire, Mexico, Arturo G.B." and is dated "1/7" most likely the month and day, without noting the year.

Arturo Garcia Bustos was born on August 8, 1926 in Mexico City. The cultural and political environment of Mexico fascinated the youthful Bustos (as he was called by friends and family) and motivated his artistic development. In 1941, when he was barely 15, he entered the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plasticas; upon graduation in 1943 he entered the Escuela de Pintura y Escultura ("La Esmeralada") where among his teachers were Frida Kahlo, Feliciano Peña and Maria Izquierdo.

In 1945 he was one of the four students who followed Frida Kahlo to Coyoacan (these students became known as "los Fridos"), where he entered the Taller de Grafica Popular (TGP) and participated in the founding of the group "Artistas Jóvenes Revolucionarios." In 1957, to further his studies in printmaking, he traveled to North Korea and China to study Eastern printmaking techniques; one of his teachers was the artist Wan Jon Ja in Pyongyang. Upon his return he continued to work at the TGP, where he met Guatemalan artist Rina Lazo, who was an assistant of Diego Rivera. They would later marry, and would remain together for over 60 years, sharing the "Casa de la Malinche" where they both worked in printmaking and painting.