Gustavo Montoya

Gustavo Montoya was a pivotal figure to the Mexican Neorealism movement. Forced to hide as a child during the Mexican Revolution in the 1910s, due to his family’s ties with the defeated Porfirio Díaz regime, his artistic practice would be substantially impacted by the political and cultural struggles of that time. Montoya is mostly known for his portraits of children in regional traditional Mexican clothing. As a Mexican muralist, he spent most of his lifetime painting street scenes in Mexico and its inhabitants, portraying the authentic social fabric of the Mexican community. His work adheres to the ‘late Mexican School of Painting’ and has been internationally acclaimed for his historical and social depictions of the Mexico of his time.