GUATEMALAN MAYAN PAINTER ANDRÉS CURRUCHICH DIED
Curruchich was born on January 19, 1891, in San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala. Curruchich began painting in the 1920s to earn extra money. His work depicted daily life of his native Kaqchikel (Mayan) people in a very simple form. He is considered the first and foremost of the naïve painters of San Juan Comalapa. In the 1930s and 1940s, he exhibited his works at festivals in Guatemala. By the 1950s, his work was found in Guatemala City and in galleries in the United States. He also began to paint in oils on canvas. Curruchich was awarded the Order of the Quetzal by the Guatemalan government in 1960 for his contribution to the nation. The Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Textiles and Clothing in Guatemala City has a permanent collection of his work. Andrés spawned a colony of painters in San Juan Comalapa–a center for Mayan naïve art in Guatemala. Many were trained by Curruchich, including Oscar Peren, Paula Nicho Cumez, and his granddaughters, Rosa Elena and María Elena Curruchiche.
Source: “Andrés Curruchich,” Revolvy. Retrieved 6/8/2019, https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Andr%C3%A9s%20Curruchich Photo: Author and date unknown. Fair Use. Source: Joya Hairs, Ixchel Museum Photo Archive.
Indigenous America Calendar 