Mexican graphic artist, painter, author, and illustrator, was born at Mexico City
Background
His brilliant, many-sided career began in New York City during the early 1920's, where he had been sent to study. Instead, he took no formal art education and began his witty, satirical caricatures, which appeared in magazines like the New Yorker and in many books, making him internationally known. Covarrubias also observed night life in New York and recorded it in many freshly conceived lithographs and easel paintings. During the 1930's he traveled a great deal, and his interests in primitive art and society led him into a serious investigation of the culture of the Balinese, and of the Tehuanas of southern Mexico. Resulting from this study are two books of prime importance written and illustrated by Covarrubias, Island of Bali (1937) and Mexico South (1946). Covarrubias also did stage sets, including those for Shaw's Androcles and the Lion (1925); panels, such as those for the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco (1939); and murals. He illustrated Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1938. Books besides those mentioned include The Prince of Wales and Other Famous Americans (1925); Negro Drawings (1927); Eagle, Jaguar and Serpent (1950), a survey of North and South American Indian art, lavishly illustrated; and Mezcala: Ancient Mexican Sculpture (1956). Covarrubias died Feb. 4, 1957, in Mexico City.
Education
His brilliant, many-sided career began in New York City during the early 1920's, where he had been sent to study. Instead, he took no formal art education and began his witty, satirical caricatures, which appeared in magazines like the New Yorker and in many books, making him internationally known.
Career
Covarrubias also observed night life in New York and recorded it in many freshly conceived lithographs and easel paintings. During the 1930's he traveled a great deal, and his interests in primitive art and society led him into a serious investigation of the culture of the Balinese, and of the Tehuanas of southern Mexico. Resulting from this study are two books of prime importance written and illustrated by Covarrubias, Island of Bali (1937) and Mexico South (1946). Covarrubias also did stage sets, including those for Shaw's Androcles and the Lion (1925); panels, such as those for the Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco (1939); and murals. He illustrated Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1938. Books besides those mentioned include The Prince of Wales and Other Famous Americans (1925); Negro Drawings (1927); Eagle, Jaguar and Serpent (1950), a survey of North and South American Indian art, lavishly illustrated; and Mezcala: Ancient Mexican Sculpture (1956).