Fermín Revueltas

Revueltas went all over the country as an enthusiastic member of cultural missions promoted by the Ministry of Public Education. He visited the exotic jungles of Tabasco and the warm regions of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, as well as the desert plains of the north in the states of Sonora and Sinaloa. From all of these trips, he painted oils and watercolors which depict his preferences for Mexico and their people, where the colors of nature had always captivated him. Although La danza del venado illustrates a ritual dance of the natives of the north, the artist avoides the picturesque and shies away from conventions which are commonly identified with Mexico, as well as the stereotype of the natives; perhaps he had experienced enough of that in the open air schools. Revueltas' painting follows more of the creative will of the avant-garde, as it submits the concept of naturalism to a questioning which at the same time alters the interpretation of its brilliant chromatic palette and the almost minimalist volume to which the forms are subjected.