DR. ATL GERARDO MURILLO CORNADO MEXICAN 1875-1964. Oil on canvas. Signed and dated as 1946. Image size 24in by 20in. With frame size 28in by 23in.

Dr. Atl (Mexican, 1875–1964)—born Gerardo Murillo in Guadalajara—was a painter, writer, and one of the major figures in the Mexican art revolution who promoted other influential artists, such as Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886–1957). He changed his name to Dr. Atl (meaning “Doctor Water” in Náhuatl) in 1902 to reinforce his Mexican identity. He studied art at the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City from 1890 to 1896. After receiving a grant of Mex$1,000 in 1899 from President Porfirio Diaz, Dr. Atl traveled to Europe, and during his stay won a silver medal from the Salon de Paris for a self-portrait. Growing up in Mexico, he had been mainly surrounded by religious art, but his work showed the influence of various European art movements by the time he returned to Mexico in 1903. Atl painted the first modern mural in Mexico at the spark of the revolution in 1910. It contained scenes of female nudes, and he used his own invented medium, Atl colors, composed of wax, resin, and pigment. He became involved in politics, supporting Venustiano Carranza during the revolution. When the new President Carranza was elected, he was named director of the Fine Arts Academy, which he then closed. In 1916, Atl founded Acción Mundiale with contributions from Mexican artists like David Alfaro Siquieros (1896–1974) and Jose Clemente Orozco (1883–1949). Although he started his artistic career with Figurative work, he thrived with his landscape paintings. He spent time hiking to places like Popocatepetl and Iztazzihuatl, making sketches of valleys and mountains. During the eruption of Parutín Volcano in 1943, Atl spent a year painting and writing on the slopes. Towards the end of his life, Atl continued to be an activist in providing an intellectual and artistic environment for Mexico.

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