Retrato de una mujer con perfil azteca [Portrait of a Woman with an Aztec Profile]
1940
20th century
30.5 cm x 23.2 cm (12 in. x 9 1/8 in.)
Carlos Orozco Romero
(Guadalajara, 1898 - 1984, México D.F.)
Primary
Object Type:
painting
Artist Nationality:
Latin America, Mexican
Medium and Support:
Oil on board
Credit Line:
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Gift of Thomas Cranfill, 1977
Accession Number:
1977.90
Carlos Orozco Romero played an important role in the development and leadership of a number of Mexican cultural institutions, including the art gallery of the Palacio de Bellas Artes [Palace of Fine Arts]. Although he worked as a caricaturist early in his career, Orozco Romero was also a dedicated painter. In “Portrait of a Woman with an Aztec Profile,” the artist’s experience with Cubism features subtly, lending a faceted appearance to the areas of light and shadow projected on the subject’s face. Reminiscent of classical portraiture, this work also asserts a noble indigenous heritage in the construction of modern Mexican identity.