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DID YOU KNOW?
FACTS & FICTION WITH A MEXICAN TWIST
MARCH 2007Did you know that...
...a young couple who became famous artists were pioneers in the San Miguel de Allende foreign community? By Tony Burton Copyright © 2007
San Miguel de Allende's vibrant art and music scene is deservedly famous. Among the early pioneers responsible for this are two Canadian artists: Leonard and Reva Brooks. John Virtue's book about the couple, subtitled Artists in Exile in San Miguel de Allende, explores their lives and careers.
Virtue paints a much more complex and enthralling picture of Leonard Brooks than of his wife Reva. After a relatively uninspired start, Virtue's discussion of their careers really comes alive after the couple moves to San Miguel in 1947.
Both Leonard and Reva were enormously talented...
They intended to stay only a year, while they worked out what to do next. They ended up staying more than 50 years.
Reva the photographer
Shortly after setting up home in San Miguel, Reva began to develop her photography skills. She proved to be a natural, always insisting on holding her twin-lens reflex camera directly in front of her heart, to ensure she would "feel connected to the subject".
When asked to take a portrait of a child who had just died, Reva overcame her initial reluctance and agreed. The series of photographs she took that day has become world famous. Her portrait of the child was included in the San Francisco Museum of Art's "Women of Photography", after the Museum selected Reva in 1975 as one of the top fifty female photographers of all time.
Her powerful portrait of ...
The San Miguel art colony
Virtues's meticulously documented work, full of details and anecdotes, reveals how San Miguel's popularity mushroomed following an influx of GIs after the war visiting the town to attend the Fine Arts school where Leonard taught. A Life Magazine article in January 1948 only served to accelerate the trend.
Famous Mexican artists were also attracted to the town. For instance, David Alfaro Siqueiros, one of the "big three" Mexican muralists (alongside Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco) was invited to give classes... ...the exploding art (and music) scene in San Miguel attracted all kinds of luminaries to the town, from politicians and writers to artists and film stars. Even Hollywood moved in. The movie "The Brave Bulls", starring Mel Ferrer, was filmed in San Miguel...
Leonard the painter and author
Leonard Brooks' reputation had grown... In the late 1960s and 1970s, Leonard's paintings, tapestries and collages were featured in several hugely successful exhibitions.
Inspired by his success teaching students, Leonard recognized the potential for "how to" books for artists. He wrote several best-selling books on painting techniques, bought by both beginners and professional artists, covering subjects such as watercolor, oils and collage. He also found the time to...
San Miguel, the music center
Besides being a painter, Leonard Brooks was also an accomplished musician. He played first violin in numerous concerts with the Guanajuato Symphony. In the 1960s, he effectively launched, single-handedly, the San Miguel music scene...
In 1992, the Leonard and Reva Brooks foundation was established at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario...
Any misgivings that Leonard might have had that his art was more appreciated in Mexico than it was in his native Canada, were finally laid to rest in 1998. In June of that year, both he and Reva held one-person shows in Toronto and in Kingston. The exhibitions, supported by national TV and press interviews, were a great success. Reva's prints at the Bulger gallery in Toronto attracted the largest crowd the gallery had ever witnessed.
Leonard and Reva Brooks made a truly extraordinary contribution to San Miguel de Allende. Without them it would surely not have become the place it is today.
Source / Further Reading
The source for this article, and all quotes, is:
John Virtue. Leonard and Reva Brooks - Artists in Exile in San Miguel de Allende. McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal, Canada; 2001.
Read the complete article . . .
Did You Know Index
Text © Copyright 2007 by Tony Burton. All rights reserved.
Photos © Copyright 2007 by Don Fyfe-Wilson. All rights reserved.
- - - Sombrero Books Page
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