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Caballos / José Chávez Morado

Gallery Label

One of the key tenets of the Mexican Revolution was agrarian reform aimed at improving the lives of the vast majority of Mexicans: those who resided in rural areas. This painting by José Chávez Morado reflects his sympathy with the country’s rural majority as well as his own working-class roots. In the foreground, horses race forward, their powerful forms emphasized by the pyramid-like stacks of hay behind them. Beneath the vast sky and its swiftly moving clouds, a male figure appears diminutive and vulnerable to the forces that surround him.

Uno de los principios claves de la Revolución Mexicana fue la reforma agraria, con el objetivo de mejorar la vida de la vasta mayoría de los mexicanos: los campesinos. Este cuadro de José Chávez Morado refleja su simpatía con la mayoría rural del país, así como sus propias raíces obreras. En primer plano, los caballos corren adelante, sus formas poderosas enfatizadas por las pilas de heno piramidales detrás. Debajo del cielo enorme y sus nubes veloces, la figura humana aparece sola, diminuta y vulnerable a las fuerzas a su alrededor.

From the exhibition: Mexican Modernism: Revolution & Reckoning, August 29, 2019 - August 30, 2020.
Alison Rossi, Director of Learning and Community Engagement, 2019.

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Title(s): 
Caballos; Horses
Creator(s): 
José Chávez Morado (Artist)
Culture: 
Mexican
Date: 
1947
Materials/Techniques: 
oil on canvas
Classification: 
Object Type: 
Credit Line: 
Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK
Accession No: 
01.2009
Previous Number(s): 
0147.2009; 33947
Department: 
Not On View

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