Teodoro Cano García
Encyclopedia
Teodoro Cano Garcia is an artist from Papantla, Veracruz, Mexico who is best known for his mural work depicting the Totonac
culture of his native region in northern Veracruz
. Cano was discovered by Diego Rivera
, who helped Cano as a youth enter the prestigious San Carlos Academy and then employed him as an assistant with the mural work being done at the Ciudad Universitaria
in Mexico City
. Cano painted his first solo mural in 1953, and since then has produced paintings, murals, sculptures, photography, book illustrations and more, including creating a high relief technique with a cement base. However, Cano is best known for his mural work which depicts and promotes the Totonac culture, and much of his work can be seen in his hometown, including a monumental sculpture of a Volador dancer overlooking the city. Cano also worked as an academic for over 36 years, recently retiring, but he continues to work as an artist based in Xalapa
.
to get a scholarship for Cano at the prestigious San Carlos Academy. Cano attended the institution from 1947 to 1951 and graduated with honors.
After graduation, he went back to work with Diego Rivera and Jesús Chávez Morado, who were working on murals at the recently constructed Ciudad Universitaria. Cano worked assisting both between 1949 and 1950. He mostly assisted with the works located on the Olympic stadium
, the main library
and the Faculty of Sciences buildings.
, “Papantla” in the same city and “Royal” in Poza Rica. In the 1960s, he mostly did canvas work with expositions in the north of Veracruz. He painted one mural called “Historia de Mexico” in Poza Rica. His most prolific period was the 1970s, painting and sculpting numerous works in Veracruz, and as a teacher supervised many more works done by students as part of a muralist movement in rural areas of Veracruz, Campeche
, Yucatán
, Tamaulipas
, Coahuila
, Sinaloa
and Colima
.
In 1985, he created his most important work called “Historia de la Educación Federal at the Xalapa delegation of the Secretariat of Public Education. Also during the 1980s, he sculpted a number of works including a monument to the Niños Héroes
in Coyutla
and the monumental sculpture of a Volador dancer in Papantla. The 1990s were mostly devoted to mural work including “Historia de la Medicina” in Xalapa, “La Justicia” in Xalapa and “Mis Raices in the Metro Bellas Artes
in Mexico City. In the 2000s, he created works in various media including murals, sculpted murals and sculptures. During his entire career, he has had numerous showing of his non mural/monumental works in the states of Veracruz, Aguascalientes
, Mexico City and abroad in San Francisco and Japan
.
Book illustrations include “Cuentos para ser contados” in 1985, “ECCE PEUR” in 1986, “Cantares Huastecos y otros Ensayos” in 1991, “Brisas Huastecas” in 1996 and “Memoria del Totonacapan” in 1999.
Cano has worked in painting, sculpting, etching, drawing, book illustrations and photography, but he is best known for his mural work, especially for work related to and promoting his native Totonac culture.(rincones15) . He is the creator of a high relief mural technique which used reinforced concrete as its base. While Cano’s work can be found in both Mexico and abroad, most of Cano’s work are found in Veracruz state, with over sixty murals alone in the state, and in Mexico City. (rincones15) His work can be found in many places in his native Papantla, from the monumental sculpture of a Volador atop a mountain overlooking the city to large murals such as “Homenaje a la Cultura Totonaca,” which describes the history of Papantla from the pre-Hispanic era to the present day. It was created by Cano along with sculptors Rivera Diaz, Contreras Garcia and Vidal Espejel in 1979, measuring 84 meters long and four meters wide. In an interview in 2007, Cano stated that he considers his work to be instructive, meant for those with little knowledge of the arts, focusing on happy elements such as dance. This is in contrast with much of modern art, he says, which can turn off many who see it for the first time.
In addition to his artistic career, Cano has had an academic career, mostly associated with the Universidad Veracruzana
(UV) in Poza Rica. In 1960, he founded the Escuela de Pintura in conjunction with the Secretariat of Public Education in Poza Rica. He cofounded and directed the Escuela de Artesanias (Schools of Handcrafts and Folk Art) in Coatepec . In 1969, he began with UV and would retire from the institution 36 years later. He began as the director of the Taller Libre de Arte in Poza Rica, and ten years later, he founded the Talleres Libres de Arte de Papantla, associated with UV. This latter institution has trained hundreds of young artists in various specialties. In 1988, he became the director of the Casa de Cultura (Cultural Center) of Papantla, a position he currently maintains.
Since graduating from the San Carlos Academy, Cano has received numerous awards for his artistic and academic work. The most recent include, one from a business group in Poza Rica in 2005, one from a petroleum workers union and one from the Universidad Veracruzana in 2006 and the “Adolfo Ruiz Cortinez” Medal awarded by the Veracruz state government in 2007. He is also one of few artists in Mexico to have had a museum dedicated to his works while still alive.
While retired from academia, Cano continues his artistic career based in Xalapa, Veracruz. In 2010, he exhibited a photographic collection along with conferences about vanilla, a flower and seed pod native to Papantla which has given it the nickname of “La Ciudad de Perfuma al Mundo” (The City that Perfumes the World) .
Totonac
The Totonac people resided in the eastern coastal and mountainous regions of Mexico at the time of the Spanish arrival in 1519. Today they reside in the states of Veracruz, Puebla, and Hidalgo. They are one of the possible builders of the Pre-Columbian city of El Tajín, and further maintained...
culture of his native region in northern Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
. Cano was discovered by Diego Rivera
Diego Rivera
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez was a prominent Mexican painter born in Guanajuato, Guanajuato, an active communist, and husband of Frida Kahlo . His large wall works in fresco helped establish the Mexican Mural Movement in...
, who helped Cano as a youth enter the prestigious San Carlos Academy and then employed him as an assistant with the mural work being done at the Ciudad Universitaria
Ciudad Universitaria
Ciudad Universitaria , Mexico, is UNAM's main campus, located in Coyoacán borough in the southern part of Mexico City. Designed by architects Mario Pani and Enrique del Moral, it encloses the Olympic Stadium, about 40 faculties and institutes, the Cultural Center, an ecological reserve, the Central...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. Cano painted his first solo mural in 1953, and since then has produced paintings, murals, sculptures, photography, book illustrations and more, including creating a high relief technique with a cement base. However, Cano is best known for his mural work which depicts and promotes the Totonac culture, and much of his work can be seen in his hometown, including a monumental sculpture of a Volador dancer overlooking the city. Cano also worked as an academic for over 36 years, recently retiring, but he continues to work as an artist based in Xalapa
Xalapa
Xalapa-Enríquez, commonly Xalapa or Jalapa, is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the year 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which it serves as municipal seat reported a population of...
.
Preparation
Cano was born in the small city of Papantla, Veracruz in 1932, and began drawing at a young age. When Diego Rivera was in Papantla in 1945, Cano had a chance to meet the famous painter and show him some of his work. Impressed, Rivera had the 14-year-old Cano come to Mexico City and work at his home as a personal assistant. However, this only lasted four months until Rivera decided that the young man needed formal training. He contacted then-governor of Veracruz Adolfo Ruiz CortinesAdolfo Ruiz Cortines
Adolfo Ruiz Cortines was President of Mexico from 1952 to 1958, representing the Institutional Revolutionary Party he was one of the oldest presidents of Mexico...
to get a scholarship for Cano at the prestigious San Carlos Academy. Cano attended the institution from 1947 to 1951 and graduated with honors.
After graduation, he went back to work with Diego Rivera and Jesús Chávez Morado, who were working on murals at the recently constructed Ciudad Universitaria. Cano worked assisting both between 1949 and 1950. He mostly assisted with the works located on the Olympic stadium
Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Estadio Olímpico Universitario is a stadium located in Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City. It was built in 1952 and at that time was the largest stadium in Mexico. This stadium has a capacity of 63,186 . During the 50s and the 60s this stadium was used mostly for college American football matches...
, the main library
Central Library (UNAM)
Central Library , is the main library in the Ciudad Universitaria Campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico . It holds one of the largest collections in Mexico...
and the Faculty of Sciences buildings.
Career
In 1953, he painted his first solo mural at the XEPR station, called “Historia del Petróleo” (History of Petroleum). Soon after, he painted “Papantla y sus Educadores” at a primary school in his hometown. During the rest of the 1950s, he painted murals in various parts of Veracruz including “Historia de Tuxpan y Homenaje al Maestro” in Tuxpan, “Servicio Social” in Poza Rica, “Pérgola” in CoatzintlaCoatzintla
Coatzintla is a municipality in Veracruz, Mexico. It is located in the north zone of the State of Veracruz, about from the state capital Xalapa. It covers an area of...
, “Papantla” in the same city and “Royal” in Poza Rica. In the 1960s, he mostly did canvas work with expositions in the north of Veracruz. He painted one mural called “Historia de Mexico” in Poza Rica. His most prolific period was the 1970s, painting and sculpting numerous works in Veracruz, and as a teacher supervised many more works done by students as part of a muralist movement in rural areas of Veracruz, Campeche
Campeche
Campeche is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in Southeast Mexico, it is bordered by the states of Yucatán to the north east, Quintana Roo to the east, and Tabasco to the south west...
, Yucatán
Yucatán
Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
, Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Tamaulipas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 43 municipalities and its capital city is Ciudad Victoria. The capital city was named after Guadalupe Victoria, the...
, Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...
, Sinaloa
Sinaloa
Sinaloa officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sinaloa is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 18 municipalities and its capital city is Culiacán Rosales....
and Colima
Colima
Colima is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima....
.
In 1985, he created his most important work called “Historia de la Educación Federal at the Xalapa delegation of the Secretariat of Public Education. Also during the 1980s, he sculpted a number of works including a monument to the Niños Héroes
Niños Héroes
The Niños Héroes , also known as the Heroic Cadets or Boy Soldiers, were six Mexican teenage military cadets. These cadets died defending Mexico at Mexico City's Chapultepec Castle from invading U.S. forces in the 13 September 1847 Battle of Chapultepec, during the Mexican–American War...
in Coyutla
Coyutla
Coyutla in Veracruz, Mexico. It is located in central zone of the State of Veracruz, about 110 km from state capital Xalapa. It has a surface of 312.56 km2...
and the monumental sculpture of a Volador dancer in Papantla. The 1990s were mostly devoted to mural work including “Historia de la Medicina” in Xalapa, “La Justicia” in Xalapa and “Mis Raices in the Metro Bellas Artes
Metro Bellas Artes
Metro Bellas Artes is a station along Line 2 and Line 8 of the Mexico City Metro system. It is located in the Colonia Centro district of the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, on the junction of Avenida Juárez and Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas, on the eastern end of the Alameda Central, west of the...
in Mexico City. In the 2000s, he created works in various media including murals, sculpted murals and sculptures. During his entire career, he has had numerous showing of his non mural/monumental works in the states of Veracruz, Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 11 municipalities and its capital city is Aguascalientes....
, Mexico City and abroad in San Francisco and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Book illustrations include “Cuentos para ser contados” in 1985, “ECCE PEUR” in 1986, “Cantares Huastecos y otros Ensayos” in 1991, “Brisas Huastecas” in 1996 and “Memoria del Totonacapan” in 1999.
Cano has worked in painting, sculpting, etching, drawing, book illustrations and photography, but he is best known for his mural work, especially for work related to and promoting his native Totonac culture.(rincones15) . He is the creator of a high relief mural technique which used reinforced concrete as its base. While Cano’s work can be found in both Mexico and abroad, most of Cano’s work are found in Veracruz state, with over sixty murals alone in the state, and in Mexico City. (rincones15) His work can be found in many places in his native Papantla, from the monumental sculpture of a Volador atop a mountain overlooking the city to large murals such as “Homenaje a la Cultura Totonaca,” which describes the history of Papantla from the pre-Hispanic era to the present day. It was created by Cano along with sculptors Rivera Diaz, Contreras Garcia and Vidal Espejel in 1979, measuring 84 meters long and four meters wide. In an interview in 2007, Cano stated that he considers his work to be instructive, meant for those with little knowledge of the arts, focusing on happy elements such as dance. This is in contrast with much of modern art, he says, which can turn off many who see it for the first time.
In addition to his artistic career, Cano has had an academic career, mostly associated with the Universidad Veracruzana
Universidad Veracruzana
Universidad Veracruzana a public autonomous university located in the Mexican state of Veracruz. Established in 1944, the university is one of the most important in the south-east region of México and has a good projection in all México...
(UV) in Poza Rica. In 1960, he founded the Escuela de Pintura in conjunction with the Secretariat of Public Education in Poza Rica. He cofounded and directed the Escuela de Artesanias (Schools of Handcrafts and Folk Art) in Coatepec . In 1969, he began with UV and would retire from the institution 36 years later. He began as the director of the Taller Libre de Arte in Poza Rica, and ten years later, he founded the Talleres Libres de Arte de Papantla, associated with UV. This latter institution has trained hundreds of young artists in various specialties. In 1988, he became the director of the Casa de Cultura (Cultural Center) of Papantla, a position he currently maintains.
Since graduating from the San Carlos Academy, Cano has received numerous awards for his artistic and academic work. The most recent include, one from a business group in Poza Rica in 2005, one from a petroleum workers union and one from the Universidad Veracruzana in 2006 and the “Adolfo Ruiz Cortinez” Medal awarded by the Veracruz state government in 2007. He is also one of few artists in Mexico to have had a museum dedicated to his works while still alive.
While retired from academia, Cano continues his artistic career based in Xalapa, Veracruz. In 2010, he exhibited a photographic collection along with conferences about vanilla, a flower and seed pod native to Papantla which has given it the nickname of “La Ciudad de Perfuma al Mundo” (The City that Perfumes the World) .