Aguascalientes, Mexico
Herran began taking drawing lessons at the Mexican Academy of Sciences, Aguascalientes, where his father worked in 1901.
Mexico City, Mexico
Herrán took classes from Julio Ruelas at the Academy of San Carlos.
Aguascalientes, Mexico
Herran began taking drawing lessons at the Mexican Academy of Sciences, Aguascalientes, where his father worked in 1901.
Mexico City, Mexico
Herrán took classes from Julio Ruelas at the Academy of San Carlos.
Self-portrait of Saturnino Herrán.
Ethnicity:
Saturnino Herrán was a mix of both Indigenous Mexican and Swiss descent.
Herrán was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, on July 9, 1887. His father owned a bookstore and was a professor of bookkeeping at the Academy of Science.
Saturnino Herrán was exceptional in drawing, painting, and drafting from an early age. He began taking drawing lessons at the Mexican Academy of Sciences, Aguascalientes, where his father worked in 1901. In 1903, when he was sixteen, his father died.
In 1905 the family moved to Mexico City where he continued to study painting. There Herrán took classes from Julio Ruelas at the Academy of San Carlos. He studied draughtsmanship under the guidance of Antonio Fabres, a Catalan painter, and colour under the supervision of German colourist Gedovious. Saturnino Herrán was an "outstanding student" receiving "honourable mentions" in multiple courses.
Herrán's artworks were highly inspired by European theories of modern art, including Greek and Roman aesthetics as well as a high degree of naturalism. In his paintings, he mixed Mexican art with his academic European technique. His first paintings depicted figures as allegories of nature; they included Spanish mythology and everyday scenes of people at work. By 1908 he received a success and recognition within the artistic community.
In 1909 Saturnino Herrán was appointed a professor of drawing at the National Institute of Fine Arts. Among his pupils were Diego Rivera and Roberto Montenegro. In 1910 he took a job as a draftsman in the Department for the Inspection of Archeological Monuments.
He participated in the Centennial Anniversary of Mexico’s Independence in 1910. Together with his fellow artist Jose Orozco, Herrán formed the Society of Mexican Painters and Sculptors and organized a counter-exhibition to the Centennial Anniversary, which included art that was purely Mexican. It comprised his triptych The Legend of the Volcanoes. The exhibition had such a success that the entrance had to be controlled by police. After seeing the exhibition, Jose Vasconcelos, the future Secretary of Education of Mexico, was impressed by Herrán's paintings and commissioned him to do a large-scale mural in the School of Arts and Crafts in 1911.
In his early paintings of 1912 and 1914, Herrán placed elderly figures in thematic contexts; it stressed their hopeless condition, their depletion of life of toil and suffering. In Herrán's famous triptych Our Gods (1914-1918), he displayed legendary Aztec goddess Coatlicue.
In his later works of 1917, the elderly figures had a tranquility and peace that reflected a spirituality. Saturnino Herrán's works were used as a model for future muralists during the 1920s and 1930s. The mural was sixteen feet tall with multiple panels, however, the artist never completed it.
Saturnino Herrán was one of the pioneers of the modern Mexican movement. He is known primarily for a mural project for the National Theater, Our Gods. Among his other major artworks are the following: The Orange Seller (1913), The Offering (1913), Mujer en Tehuantepec (1914), Nuestros Dioses (1916), Mujer con Calabaza (1917), etc.
Herrán's works became an excellent source of inspiration for numerous artists. His works were used as model for future muralists throughout the 1920s and 1930s.
The offering
La criolla del mantón
Manuel Toussaint
Indian with quechquémitl
Nuestros dioses antiguos
El rebozo
unknown title
Mujer con calabaza
La cosecha
Nuestros dioses
El Quetzal
El Ciego
Iglesia de Santa Teresa la Antigua
Tehuana: Rosario Arellano de Herrán
Artes y letras
El aguador
Comadre, cuando me muera
Viejo sentado con sombrero y paraguas
Joven con calentador y sombrero napoleónico
El hombre de la casulla
Rosario tejiendo y el niño José
Adonis
David, pedestal y ánfora (Ganimedes)
Caballero águila
El bailador del jarabe
Coyolxauhqui
Retrato
La dama del abanico
Retrato de la esposa de Carlos González Peña
Retrato de anciana
Alicia
Saturnino Herrán met his future wife, Rosario Arellano, in 1912. She occasionally acted as a model for a number of pieces, including Mujer en Tehuantepec (1914). In 1914 they got married. Together they had one son, José Francisco.
