Ramón Alva de la Canal, Mexican, (1892-1985)

            Ramón Alva de la Canal, the great Mexican painter, was born in Tacubaya, on August 29, 1892.  He was first artistically trained at the Academy of San Carlos, and later studied at the Escuela de Pintural al Aire Libre.  Early on in his career, he joined the Technical Workers, Painters, Sculptors and Engravers Union, a group assembled by José Vasconcelos, the head of the Secretaría de Educación Pública.  Like most of the artists of his generation, he was very passionate about demonstrating the importance of political and cultural movements in his artistic works.  As a member of the Stridentist Movement between 1921 and 1926, Alva de la Canal created many illustrations for the movement.  He also played an important role in founding the Grupo Revolucionario de Pintores 30-30 in 1928, a group that had connections to the Escuelas de Pinturas al Aire Libre.  Alva de la Canal was one of the key leaders of the Mexican Muralism Movement, and worked alongside great artists like Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and José Clemente Orozco.  Four of his great murals include La Guerra, La paz, El dolor Humano, and La Victoria, which were all painted for the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional. 

            Some of Canal’s other lifetime accomplishments include teaching middle school students at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes, becoming the head of  the Escuela de Artes Plásticas in Xalapa, creating a theatre group at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, and becoming head of the Children’s Theater department of the Secretaría de la Educación Pública.   As a visionary artist, he always strived to portray cities in a positive light, and believed in the sensitivity and spiritual delicacy of art. He died of a heart attack in Mexico City in 1985.