Rodríguez Lozano began his career at the time that Mexican muralism was being established as the main artistic movement in the country.
José Vasconcelos invited the artist to participate in the government projects being sponsored but the Rodríguez Lozano refused because he did not believe that art should be used for political messages. His depictions of subjects did not follow the movement either, preferring more poetic interpretations, and for much of his career did not heavily rely on Mexican archetypes, believing that his work was “Mexican” no matter what. His work does show some influence from European art movements, from the time he spent on the continent, especially from the work of
Giorgio de Chirico and
Pablo Picasso. However he does not follow any of these trends faithfully either, leading his work to be characterized as
Cubist and
Surrealist . While this led to rejection of work by contemporary art critic
Luis Cardoza y Aragón, later critics such as
Raquel Tibol and
Berta Taracena have been more positive, both noting that his work depicted a melancholy Mexico rather than a festive one. While his subject matter was generally related to life in Mexico, especially its suffering, he also did a number of portraits such as those of
Jaime Torres Bodet,
Daniel Cosío Villegas and Rodolfo Usigli, with one done of Antonieta Rivas Mercado after her death. Rodríguez Lozano’s work is divided into three distinct periods. The first focused on Mexican archetypes and lasted from 1922 to 1934. These figures were often life-sized or monumental, with solid and thick forms focusing on folkloric content with embellished realism. These compositions are simplistic, with restricted but rich color to evoke nostalgia, but without being purely decorative. The second stage is called the monumental stage, lasting from 1935 to 1939. These works depicted everyday life in Mexico, with exaggerated proportions and gigantic figures for poetic effect. These figures included prostitutes, laborers, and people of poor neighborhoods. Some are nudes and some seem to look off into the horizon. Towards the end of this period, his colors become paler. Although he began some of the tendencies earlier, his last stage, known as the “white stage” is marked by the creation of the mural Piedad en el desierto while the artist was imprisoned in Lecumberri. In this stage, colors pale to cold lilacs, blues, grays and light pinks, revolving around white with the only dark and profound colors appearing in night skies. Scenes here are tragic, with dramatic expressions of anguish, desolation and desperation, expressing both misery and grandeur. Works still focus on human figures, but these evolve from robust to elongated, sublime and almost skeletal or ghost-like, with forms styled to their fundamentals. Often these figures are androgynous or mix elements of male and female. Mexican archetypal elements still appear, such as the use of the
rebozo to indicate pain and suffering. This use later influenced cinema productions such as the film
La perla by
Emilio Fernández. During this stage Rodríguez produced over thirty paintings and two murals, lasting until he retired from painting in the mid 1950s. == References ==