Fernando Castillo

Eventually. Alfredo Ramos Martínez' schools gave an access to an artistic education to a series of individuals who, because of their humble backgrounds, perhaps would never have painted anything. Fernando Castillo was a humble muleteer who arrived in Mexico City at the beginning of the XX century to hold numerous jobs from stevedore, stationer, fireman, miner, mortician's assistant, upholsterer, soldier, shoe-shine boy, and finally, painter. The opportunity came from Gabriel Fernández Ledesma who, with certains reservations since he was lame, admitted him in 1928 to the Popular Center of San Pablo. The disciple learned and showed his works in Seville, at the International Fair, where he received the silver medal of distinction for his pictorial art. This piece has, without a doubt, a sincere creative spirit that overcomes in many ways the primitivism of the artistic resources. It is a piece that allows us to evaluate, in all its dimensions, the achievements of the Open Air Schools of Painting, from whom many valuable professionals of Mexican modern art came.