CYDT Collection & Info

Federico Cantú Garza

 

Biographical Information

 

Born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico in 1907.

Son of the doctor and journalist Adolfo Cantú Jáuregui and the writer María Luisa Garza Quintanilla "Loreley".

Moved to Mexico City, where he participated in the Escuela de Pintura al Aire Libre de Coyoacán, under the master Alfredo Ramos Martínez.

Worked with the master Diego Rivera on frescos in the Secretariat of Public Education building.

Lived in Paris for several years, influenced inter alia by the artists José de Creeft and Mateo Hernandez.

Married Luz Fabila Montes de Oca and lived with her in Los Angeles, where they had their son (Ícaro) Federico Cantú Fabila. Both Cantú’s wife and son were also painters.

Painted both murals and canvases, and took part in various exhibits in California, among which was a show in Exposition Park.

Exhibited in several New York galleries.

Returned to Paris, where he took part in art shows and painted a mural in the Bar Papillon.

Second marriage to Gloria Calero.

Returned to Mexico and became a teacher at Escuela de Pintura y Escultura La Esmeralda.

Painted murals in the parish church of San Miguel de Allende and former Convent of San Diego in Mexico City.

Exhibited in Los Angeles and in Monterrey.

Completed oil paintings and silver engravings for the Purísima Concepción Church in Monterrey.

Painted murals for the residence of Benito Coquet, Alfonso Noriega and Tomás Iglesias, as well as for the Regional Museum of Morelia.

Sculpted the image of the Mexican Social Security Institute, as well as various bas reliefs for the same institution.

Painted murals for the Misioneros de Guadalupe Seminary in Mexico City.

Completed bas reliefs for Los Altares in Galeana, Nuevo León, and in various schools of the Universidad de Nuevo León (now known as Autonomous University of Nuevo León) in Monterrey.

A major retrospective of Cantu’s work was organized in Palacio de las Bellas Artes in Mexico City.

National Honors conferred by the Presidency of the Republic.

Cantu’s work forms part of the collections of the most important museums in Mexico, as well as the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Vatican Museums and many private collections in Mexico and elsewhere.

Numerous articles, essays, monographs and catalogues tell the story of Cantú’s life and work.

Cantú’s work places him among the masters of Mexican art, and along with Alfredo Ramos Martínez and Fidias Elizondo, as one of the most renowned artists born in Nuevo León.

Died in Mexico City in 1989.

Cantuart@hotmail.com

 

 

 

 

(See Blackaller, E. R. Federico Cantú; Seis Décadas de Trabajo 1922-1980. Mexico, S. E., 1980; Cantú, Adolfo. La Memoria Mural de Federico Cantú. Mexico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, 2011; Chapa Martínez, Roberto. Diálogos con Federico Cantú. Monterrey, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, 1988; Federico Cantú. Monterrey, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León - Fondo Editorial de Nuevo León, 2008. Pp. 45-49; Federico Cantú (1907-1989). Monterrey, Galería Emma Molina, 1998; Federico Cantú; el Arte, Vocación de Vida. Monterrey, Consejo para la Cultura y las Artes de Nuevo León. 2003; Federico Cantú: Buriles. Mexico, Las Hojas del Mate, S. F.; Federico Cantú; los Látigos de tus Líneas. Puebla, Museo Amparo - Banorte, 1994; Federico Cantú; una Nueva Visión. Mexico, Banpaís - Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes - Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1989. Pp. 109-117; Grecia en la Obra de Federico Cantú. Monterrey, Pinacoteca de Nuevo León - Consejo para la Cultura y las Artes de Nuevo León, 2008. Pp. 67-68; Nuncio, Abraham. El Espejo Habitado; Federico Cantú y su Obra. Monterrey, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León - Consejo para la Cultura y las Artes de Nuevo León, 1999; Helm, Mackinley. Modern Mexican Painters. New York, Harper & Brothers, 1941; Salazar, Horacio. Federico Cantú; el Ulises de Cadereyta. Monterrey, Gobierno del Estado de Nuevo León, 1994; Toscano, Salvador. Federico Cantú; Obra Realizada 1922-1948. Mexico, Asbaje,1948).

Federico Cantú; Muralismo 1926-1986. Mexico Instituto de investigaciones estética del UNAM –Adolfo Cantú ,2014.

Ramos Martinez, Fideas Elizondo Federico Cantú- Tres Pioneros ; Pinacoteca NL – Adolfo Cantú,2022.

 

  

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