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Candelario Medrano
“Santa Cruz de las Huertas Jalisco”, Ceramic, Glaze, Colors, Mexican Folkart

1950s

$3,500
£2,657.63
€3,039.20
CA$4,890.01
A$5,438.76
CHF 2,839.95
MX$66,183.87
NOK 36,270.49
SEK 34,015.32
DKK 22,682.73
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About the Item

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY “Santa Cruz de las Huertas Jalisco” is a whimsical, charming and colorfully ceramic rendition painted blue and red of a local bus that traversed the town where the artist Candelario Medrano lived. This bus was very important in the lives of the townspeople. In addition to being their major mode of transportation, it was similar to a community gathering place used by friends, relatives and neighbors where the driver was eager to pass on local gossip and news. This particular ceramic was from the collection of Jane and Richard Knight’s Estate. Jane Knight was a famous fiber and textile artist. Richard was a photographer who worked for Eliel Saarinen and Alexander Girard. The Knights and Girard became close friends and it was Girard who gifted “Santa Cruz De Las Huertas Jalisco” to the Knights. Alexander Girard left his personal collection to the Museum of International Folk Art, Santa Fe, NM. The Girards eventually amassed a collection of more than 106,000 objects from across the globe. Their 1978 gift of this collection to the Museum of International Folk art quintupled the size of their collection and prompted the construction of a new wing, which opened in 1982 and houses a mere 10% of the Girard Collection in the permanent exhibition Multiple Visions: A Common Bond, which was designed by Alexander Girard himself. This collection includes numerous multiples and is notable for its great breadth, including traditional arts, popular arts, and paper ephemera. “I believe we should preserve this evidence of the past, not as a pattern for sentimental imitation,” Girard once said, “but as nourishment for the creative spirit of the present.” Indeed, folk art was an important inspiration for Girard’s design work. The renowned Candelario Medrano is recognized as one of the top figural ceramists in Mexico. He lived in Santa Cruz de las Huertas in the state of Jalisco, one of the largest pottery-producing states in Mexico. He started out making hand-made sewer pipes as did many other people in the village, but as the adopted son of Julian Acero, the top ceramic toy maker in the village, Medrano soon learned to create his highly individualized pieces and eventually created many ceramic pieces. His boldly imaginative work included Noah's arks, churches, merry-go-rounds, jet planes, whimsical castles, bandstands, churches, slim apartment buildings, circus tents, arks, owls, animals, boats, trains, buses, taxis, and cars. Some of these pieces would be populated with groups of happy people, oftentimes with very expressive faces. Another unique expression was the production of his nagual who was dual in nature. He was your animal protective spirit or the boogie man. All of these were painted in wonderfully bright colors. Medrano still remains a celebrated master of folk ceramics and his work continues to be collected around the world. His sons Serapio Medrano and Benito Medrano have continued working clay; so have his grandchildren Juan Jose Ramos Medrano and Maria Medrano. Also related is Gerardo Ortega Lopez who developed his own style of folk art in clay.
  • Creator:
    Candelario Medrano (1918 - 1986)
  • Creation Year:
    1950s
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 9.5 in (24.13 cm)Width: 19.5 in (49.53 cm)Depth: 6.5 in (16.51 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Detroit, MI
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU128617424312

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