Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco in 1887, the painter and muralist Robeto Montenegro inherited his love art from his uncle, who gave him his first painting lessons. He contributed illustrations and vignettes to the Revista Moderna and later moved to Mexico City. He studied in the San Carlos Academy under Julio Ruelas, Antonio Fabrés and Germán Gedovius. Until 1921 he lived in Europe, where he worked with important Spanish, French and Belgian artists. In Mexico, José Vaconcelos commissioned him to do several murals in the Ministry of Public Education, Benito Juárez School, the Iberoamerican Library and the National Teacher´s School. As a writer and critic, together with other contemporary artists, he tried to divert attention away from European art by introducing popular Mexican art to the public. His vast body of work includes painting, engraving, book illustrations, vignettes and stained-glass windows. He was the founder of the Arts Academy, and died in Morelia, Michoacán in 1968.
