Manuel Rodríguez Lozano

Of those Mexican painters, who, having been in Europe returned to the cultural environment of the twenties, one must mention Manuel Rodríguez Lozano who, together with Diego Rivera, was one of the artists who was most dedicated to synthetizing his contact with the avant-garde in the search for a genuine expression of what is Mexican. Rodríguez Lozano was in charge of continuing the drawing method of Adolfo Best Maugard in the programs of the Ministry of Public Education. It was here that he had the opportunity to educate and guide the artistic vocation of other artists such as Abraham Angel and Julio Castellanos. La ramera is one of his best early works, due to its restless desire to deal with city subjects, with frank crudeness and far from the picturesque view of native subjects, without forgetting the colors seen in the fauves and Matisse, whom he admired during his long stay in Paris. The oil appeared as an illustration in an issue of the magazine Forma, in which the opinions of some European critics of the painting are also seen - such as André Salmón and Alberto Prebisch.