National Mexican Emblem

Jose Obregon. National Mexican Emblem. Mexico. Technique: Catalan Lithography. Chromolithography. Frame size: 22 1/2 x 29 inches. Signed on the plate.

Jose Obregon (b. 1832; d. 1902), Mexican painter. Obregon received his education at the Academia de San Carlos, where he was a student of Pelegrín Clavé for more than fifteen years. In his youth, his pictorial themes corresponded with his desire to appreciate universal culture through biblical themes. In the 1860s, Obregon was the first painter to use themes involving early national episodes. His The Discovery of Pulque, a painting of undoubted historical significance, took its place in the moralist line of historical paintings. Its novelty lay in that, rather than being derived from a biblical or Greco-Roman episode, its theme sprang from a national event. This work interested other figure painters at the academy in the idea of using Mexican historical themes.