Roberto Montenegro

Roberto Montenegro Nervo (February 19, 1887 in Guadalajara - October 13, 1968 in Mexico City) was a Mexican painter, illustrator, and stage designer.

In 1903, Roberto Montenegro began studying painting in Guadalajara under Felix Bernardelli, a Brazilian-Mexican artist who had established a school of painting and music in that Mexican city,and he produced his first illustrations for "Revista Moderna", a magazine that promoted the Latin American modernist movement and for which his cousin, the poet Amado Nervo, wrote. He lived in Mexico City, and in 1904 began studying architecture. It wasn't long after he abandoned it to study at the Academia de San Carlos under the talented artists Antonio Fabres, Julio Ruelas, Leandro Izaguirre and German Gedovius. Some of his fellow students were Diego Rivera, Angel Zarraga and Francisco Goitia.

Eventually he was awarded a scholarship from the Mexican government to studt at the Academia de San Fernando in Madrid. It was here that he met Joaquín Sorolla and Ignacio Zuloaga. These two great painters became a big influence in his work. He moved to Paris in 1907 and became interested in cubism. He had the fortune of meeting Picasso, Juan Gris, Braque and Jean Cocteau while he stayed in France. His skill as an illustrator landed him a job making drawings for Le Temoin, a local magazine. He also wrote a biography of Russian dancer Vaslav Nijinsky and illustrated an edition of Aladin's Lamp.

When the First World War broke out, Montenegro was forced to move to Mallorca and stayed there for five years. During this time he met the highly recognized painter from Catalonia, Anglada Camarasa, who also became an influence for him.

When Montenegro's returned to Mexico, he was commissioned to paint several frescoes in the convent of San Pedro and San Pablo by José Vasconcelos. One of his best works "Fiesta de la Santa Cruz", he finished in 1924 on the staircase of that building.

An influential promoter of popular arts, Montenegro organized events like the first popular arts festival which was held in 1921. he also published "Pintura Mexicana del Periodo 1800-1860" in the 1930s and worked in the choreography of Aleko with Marc Chagall, and Lenormand's Le Simoun with Antonio Leal. He made many portraits. One of his most famous is the one of his longtime friend Chucho Reyes which can be seen at the Museo Regional de Guadalajara.

He published "Retablos Mexicanos" in 1951 and exhibited in Mexico and abroad, earning him several recognitions. He was fortunate enough to have a retrospective of five decades of his work be held at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City in 1965. Roberto Montenegro died on October 13th, 1968.

References

*Noyola Anticuarios. [http://www.noyolaanticuarios.com/bios/Roberto_Montenegro "Biography of Roberto Montenegro"] , "Roberto Montenegro on Noyola Anticuarios".