Portrait of Pablo O'Higgins
Jules Heller American
Subject Pablo Esteban O'Higgins American
In this linocut, Heller depicted Pablo Esteban O’Higgins (whose work is on display nearby), an American-born artist who relocated to Mexico at the age of twenty. There, O’Higgins cofounded the Taller de Gráfica Popular, the progressive printmaking workshop where many of the artists on view here produced prints. Heller, a visiting artist in 1947, showed O’Higgins seated in a space, likely a studio, with art propped against the wall. Related to the woodcut, the linocut was popular with workshop artists. Linoleum was an inexpensive synthetic material that was easier to carve than wood and allowed for a greater variety of effects; its strength enabled artists to pull a large number of prints without compromising quality. The resultant works could then be sold at prices that reflected the artists’ aspirations for a more democratic and financially accessible art.
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