Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and Alfaro Siqueiros They are the names that have always dominated Mexican muralism, but that does not mean that they are the only participants.
It is important to know what the contemporaries of these three great artists did in order to better understand the problems of the muralism in Mexico, especially in the 1930s, when the scene opened up to a growing number of participants, including some foreigners and a few women.
At that time many women played prominent roles as inspirers or promoters of the so-called Mexican Renaissance, but until now the reason why women played a minimal role as muralists in that period is not known for sure.
Unfortunately, few people know the Isabel Villaseñor's experience as a muralist when she assisted Alfredo Zalce in 1930, which is unfortunate.
Portrait of Isabel Villaseñor, 1930. Source: Phillips
His life was short (he only lived 44 years), but full of artistic achievements due to the fact that he obtained great fame as an illustrator and tape recorder.
The native of Guadalajara was born on May 18, 1909 and her artistic training began exactly 19 years later, at the Santiago Rebull Popular Painting Center, directed by Gabriel Fernández Ledesma, who would become her husband.
Isabel Villaseñor, whose work contains a cultural load dominated by tradition and reveals the attitudes of Mexican machismo, is considered one of the first Mexican female muralists.
Most of its themes deal with domestic tasks attributed to women and the maternal attitude. The influence of the Taller de la Gráfica Popular is visible in her work.
Villaseñor also ventured into the literary field, creating scripts for Ballet and theater, as well as narrative, for which she was an exceptional multidisciplinary artist.