Francisco Dosamantes

Women of Oaxaca

1930s

Francisco Dosamantes was born in Mexico City on October 4, 1911, son of artist and builder Daniel Dosamantes. Encouraged by his father and his uncle Juan he began studying art. The Mexican Revolution occurred while he was a young child and he stated that he remembered events such as soldiers on horses charging as well as the execution of rural farmworkers, events that would inform his work for the rest of his life. Dosamantes attended primary and high school in Mexico City but stated that his education was irregular and deficient. He then entered the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, where he studied for five years. After graduating, Dosamantes worked at various cultural missions from 1932–45, where he worked with the rural farm workers and became a champion of their causes. In Mexico City, he taught classes in high schools from 1937–41. In 1945, Dosamantes founded and directed the Taller Escuela de Dibujo y Pintura. He was a member of Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios between 1934–38. Dosamantes was a member of the LEAR in the mid-1930s, before joining the TGP in 1937. Also before working with the TGP, Dosamantes studied at the Academia de San Carlos and, in 1928, was a part of the painters’ organization Treinta-treinta. In 1937, he was a founding member of the Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP). In 1940, he became the secretary-general of the Sindicato de Maestros de Artes Plásticas. Dosamantes is primarily known as a printmaker but he also painted several murals in rural areas of Mexico between 1941–46, generally when he was there on cultural missions. As a book illustrator, he primarily worked for the Secretaría de Educación Pública working on books for literacy campaigns. Dosamantes died in Mexico City on July 18, 1986.