Y GANDHI, Paseo de la Reforma S/N, Bosque de Chapultepec I Secc, 11100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Museum of Modern Art in Mexico
Y GANDHI, Paseo de la Reforma S/N, Bosque de Chapultepec I Secc, 11100 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Museum of Modern Art in Mexico
Natalia Toledo
Jeronimo Lopez Ramirez (Dr Lakra)
Laureana Toledo
Guillermo Silva Santamaria
artist painter printmaker sculptor
Francisco Toledo was born on July 17, 1940, in Juchitán de Zaragoza, Oaxaca, Mexico.
Francisco revealed his abilities for drawing at the early age and was encouraged by his father in his passion.
Toledo’s grandfather influenced his further artworks by taking him to the trips around Mexico and telling various mythological and popular stories.
Francisco Toledo did his artistic studies at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Oaxaca (Oaxaca School of Fine Arts).
Then, he was taught graphic arts by the Colombian painter Guillermo Silva Santamaria at the Centro Superior de Artes Aplicadas del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (Center of Applied Arts of the National Institute of Fine Arts) in Mexico.
Francisco Toledo started his professional career in the middle of 1960s when he came back from his trip around Europe. He used the knowledge he had received to develop the new style of Mexican art.
After his return, the artist created a lot of paintings and sculptures of stone, wood and wax. Many of these early artworks were presented at the show organized in 1973 at the Carl Finkler Gallery in Paris and in a couple of years in New York City at the Martha Jackson Gallery. In 1980, Toledo had his first retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City.
Since then, the artist has exhibited all around the world, including such countries as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Japan, Sweden, the United States and elsewhere.
Known as an active participant at the cultural life of his native city and of Mexico in general, Toledo tried his hand as an illustrator. So, he produced drawings for a great number of books dedicated to the ancestral history of his country, such as ‘Chilam Balam’, ‘Guachi’, ‘Sahagún’ and others. Inspired by ‘Report For an Academy’ of Franz Kafka, the artist created the series of fifteen prints as well.
Nowadays, Francisco Toledo lives and works in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Francisco Toledo is an accomplished painter who is recognized as one of the most important living artists in his country. The European art circle celebrates the artist for the mythic and sacred sense of his canvases.
Toledo devoted the most part of his life and career to preserve the culture and traditions of his people, to develop and promote the art in his country. As a social and cultural activist, he founded the Museum of Contemporary Art of Oaxaca (Museum de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca), the Patronage of the Preservation and Conservation of the Cultural Patrimony of Oaxaca, a library for blind people, a centre of photography and the Eduardo Mata Music Library.
Despite, Francisco Toledo took part in the establishment of the art library at the Graphic Arts Institute of Oaxaca which fund is nowadays estimated to more than ten thousands of books on Mexican Art.
The artistic achievements and social activities of the painter were marked by such prestigious awards as the Mexican National Prize for Arts and Sciences, the Prince Claus Award and the Right Livelihood Award.
Toledo’s pieces of art are nowadays preserved in many well-known art galleries and museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, both in New York City, and the Rufino Tamayo Museum in Mexico.
Rape of Europa
Galloping
Toad
Iguana Tails
Chango II
Murcielago
Juárez sin la sirena
A Toad Tamazul
Insects I - Large Atar Kite
Goat
Watermelon Kite I
Bomb on the Flight
Happy Donkey
Bad Cow
Self-portrait
Horse in the Hills
The Rabbit and the Shoe
Beenda Gubizi (Rattlesnake, Zapotec)
Shrimp and Boat
Self-portrait
Tortoise
Figures
Rabbits in Spiderweb
Untitled
Untitled
Arrival of the Egyptians
Two Horses
Vain
Person Looking at the Sun
Horse Stung by Wasps
The Pink Pig
Hunting Scene
A Hammock
Self-portrait
A Bull
Grasshopper (Cricket with Fish)
Quotations: "We add our voice ... to those who struggle for the recognition and protection for their rights and cultures, because to the extent that we respect our differences, we shall build a life with more justice."
Quotes from others about the person
"I know of no modern artist who is so pervaded, and so naturally, by a sacred sense of life, none who is bound to myth and magic with such seriousness and such simplicity; none who is so purely inspired by rite and fable." Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues, an art critic
Francisco Toledo was married three times.
His first wife became a Zapotec woman.
In 1969, Toledo married Elisa Ramirez Castañeda, a famous Mexican anthropologist and poet who gave birth to their son named Jeronimo Lopez Ramirez, mostly known as the artist and tattooist Dr Lakra.
Nowadays, Francisco Toledo is living with Trine Ellitsgaard, a Danish weaver.
Two daughters of Francisco Toledo whose names are Natalia and Laureana followed their father’s steps and chose the artistic professions. Natalia is a poetry author and Laureana is a painter.
