Manuel Rodrguez Lozano

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Personal

Passions

Mexican painter, known for his “melancholy” depiction of Mexico rather than the more dominant political or festive one of the Mexican muralism movement. This is especially true of his “white period” which is marked by cold colours and tragic scenes focusing on human figures which are skeletal or ghost-like. His work influenced Mexican films such as La perla. In 1913, Rodríguez Lozano married Carmen Mondragón, later known as Nahui Ollín. The two met at a dance and she became smitten with him. At first he was not interested but her father, General Manuel Mondragón, was a powerful man politically, and this changed the artist’s mind. However, shortly after the marriage, General Mondragón was involved in the Decena tragica and the assassination of Francisco I. Madero, which forced the entire family into exile in Europe for eight years. At first the couple lived in Paris, but with the outbreak of World War I, the family moved to Spain. His time in Europe, especially Paris, put him in touch with avant garde artists such as Matisse, Braque and Picasso as well as writers such as André Salmon, Jean Cassou and Andre Lothe, who influenced his art. However, his relationship with Nahui Ollín was problematic. She did not like his bohemian friends and 'accused' him of being a homosexual. The couple had a child in 1914, but the infant died shortly after birth. Rodríguez Lozano stated that his wife smothered the child but her family denied it. The couple separated when Rodríguez Lozano returned to Mexico in 1921. In the early 1920s, Rodríguez Lozano had an amorous relationship with Abraham Ángel, who was also his student. Ángel died in 1924 from a cocaine overdose, which may have been intentionally suicidal. In 1928, he began a relationship with Antonieta Rivas Mercado. She was in love with him, ignoring his relationships with men. She did much for his career but the two never became sexual. She committed suicide in 1931. The deaths of his child, Ángel and Rivas Mercado, along with his incarceration in 1940, left scars and made his art darker. Rodríguez Lozano died in Mexico City on 27 March 1971, aged 79, from heart failure. Link to Wikipedia biography