Ángel Bracho

Ángel Bracho (February 14, 1911 – February 1, 2005) was a Mexican engraver and painter who is best known for his politically themed work associated with the Taller de Gráfica Popular; however he painted a number of notable murals as well. Bracho was from a lower-class family and worked a number of menial jobs before taking night classes for workers at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas. Even though he had only four years of primary school, he then studied as a full-time student at the university. His art career began working with Diego Rivera on the painting of the Abelardo L. Rodríguez market in Mexico City. He was a founding member of the Taller de Gráfica Popular, making posters that would become characteristic of the group. His graphic design work is simple, clean and fine dealing with themes related to social struggles with farm workers, laborers and Mexican landscapes.

Bracho was born in Mexico City. His biographies contain discrepancies about is date of birth but most state that it was February 14, 1911. Bracho’s father was a captain in the Mexican army, and his mother was a farm worker.

He attended primary school for four years, then worked at a bus driver, a butcher’s assistant, a furniture painter and a haircutter. He later created the work “Peluquería al aire libre” in reference to this last occupation. His poor upbringing would later move him towards various social causes.

In 1928 he took night classes for workers at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas and was a full-time student between 1929 and 1934. As a student he has Diego Rivera and Rufino Tamayo as teachers.

Angel Bracho married and had three children.

Bracho died on February 1, 2005.

Bracho began his art career working with artists such as Pablo O'Higgins and Leopoldo Méndez under the direction of Diego Rivera on the Abelardo L. Rodríguez market in Mexico City in 1935. He painted various ceiling sections including his first mural called “Vitamins.” In 1936, he painted the fresco “El Agua” at the municipal palace at Tezcatlán, Oaxaca, since destroyed. In 1938, he painted the mural “Libertad sindical" at the Federación Sindical in Los Mochis, Sinaloa. He also painted “Las luchas socials del estado de Puebla” with Alfredo Zalce at the teachers’ college in Puebla.

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