Pedro Coronel
Mexican, 1923-1985

Personajes inéditos [Unknown Persons], 1963
acrylic on canvas
15 ¾ x 12 in.

SBMA, Gift of Charles A. Storke
1994.57.7



A young Pedro Coronel

POSTSCRIPT

The extraordinary Museo Pedro Coronel is housed in a 17th-century former Jesuit college and is one of provincial Mexico’s best art museums. Pedro Coronel (1923−85) was an affluent Zacatecan artist who bequeathed his collection of art and artifacts from all over the world, as well as his own works. The collection includes 20th-century works by Picasso, Rouault, Chagall, Kandinsky and Miró; some entertaining Hogarth lithographs; and fine ink drawings by Francisco de Goya. There are pre-Hispanic Mexican artifacts, masks and other ancient pieces from all over the world, including some important Japanese screens.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mexico/northern-central-highlands/zacatecas/sights/museum/museo-pedro-coronel



Pedro Coronel holding one of his sculptures

COMMENTS

Born in Jerez de García Salinas, Zacatecas, Rafael Coronel was part of a generation of Mexican artists known as La ruptura who broke away from the dogmatic tenets of muralism in the 1950s. Coronel was influenced by Rufino Tamayo’s style of abstract figuration, use of vivid colors, and ability to connect the past with the present. Coronel’s figures broadly suggest the forms and motifs of ancient cultures—perhaps drawn from the artist’s own collection of pre-Columbian, Asian, Greco-Roman, and medieval art. His use of thickly layered, vibrant paint and abstract forms provides a dramatic contrast to the somber, figurative works of his younger brother, artist Rafael Coronel.

SBMA title card information 2013

Pedro Coronel was a Mexican artist who created a wide variety of works including, paintings, mosaics, stained glass windows and sculptures. He is best known for his vibrantly colored abstract paintings inspired by pre-Hispanic culture.

Pedro Coronel was born in Zacatecas, Mexico on March 25, 1923. He is the older brother of artist Rafael Coronel. He studied at La Esmeralda National School of Painting and Sculpture from 1940 to 1945 under Juan Cruz, Francisco Zúñiga and Santos Balmori and was later a teacher there himself.

After he graduated he continued his studies in Paris, attending workshops under painter Victor Brauner and sculptor Constantin Brancusi. In 1954 he had his first solo exhibition at the Galería Proteo in Mexico City. Coronel was a talented painter, sculptor, draftsman and engraver. His works have been shown in exhibitions throughout the world. In 1984, Coronel was awarded the Premio Nacional de Artes, the highest artistic distinction awarded by the Mexican government.

Pedro Coronel was also an avid art collector who acquired works from all over the world. Artists among his collection were the modern masters Dalí, Picasso, Míro, Kandinsky and Braque. He was also an enthusiastic collector of pre-Columbian, Oriental, Greco-Roman, medieval art and graphic art. Coronel’s work often featured dramatization of the colors of the ancient cultures he collected, and the recovery of their shapes and motifs. He donated his collection to the people of Mexico, which is now housed in the Museo de Pedro Coronel in Zacatecas, Mexico. Coronel died of a stroke in Mexico City at age 62, May 23, 1985.

http://rogallery.com/Coronel_Pedro/coronel-biography.html
http://www.midcenturia.com/2011/01/pedro-coronel-paintings.html