Sixty years at the Instituto Allende - Part Two

Back to the Gallery at the Instituto Allende with its wonderful collection of art showcasing artists of San Miguel de Allende, past and present.

This painting is by James Pinto, an artist that moved to San Miguel from Yugoslavia. He too was one of the original art instructors at the Belles Artes and then at the Instituto. I was fortunate to have him as a friend. I wrote about him in my post dated March 19.

Another one of Pintos fabulous abstract paintings. "The Church in Atotonilco" by Frederick Taylor (1972). A Canadian artist who settled in San Miguel and painted in a social realist style. I take my groups to Atotonilco to visit this storybook Church. Many refer to the interior as the Sistine Chapel of Mexico.
Sterling Dickson painted this scene in 1950. He had a hand in the creation of the Instituto Allende, an extreme passion for the Mexican people and was one of the driving forces of putting San Miguel on the map as a world class art center.

This color pencil, "Fuertes Opuestas", is by Jose Mojica. He was a world renown Mexican opera singer and movie star. He moved to San Miguel in the 1930's. With the end of the Mexican Revolution in 1821, the economy had collapsed, many returned to Spain and San Miguel was full of empty mansions. Mojica influenced many writers, actors and others in the arts to invest in properties around town.

This oil is by Fred Samuelson. Fred moved here from Chicago in 1955 with his wife at the time, Sylvia, who owns Galleria San Miguel, a great gallery right on the north side of the jardin.

Robert Maxwell captured this pastel of the woman "Crouching" beautifully.

It is a beautiful show and I have been very fortunate to know most of the artists past and present.