Pablo O'Higgins

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, O'Higgins was raised there and in San Diego, California.^[1] In 1922 he abandoned his first career as a pianist and entered the Academy of Arts in San Diego.^[1]

Within two years he'd become a student of Diego Rivera, assisting Rivera on his murals at the National School of Agriculture at Chapingo, and the Public Education Secretariat.^[2]

Like Rivera, O'Higgins became an active member of the Mexican Communist Party.^[1] He immigrated to Mexico permanently in 1924, joined the party in 1927,^[1] and maintained his party membership until 1947.^[1] His political illustrations for the Daily Worker won him a year's study at the Academy of Art in Moscow on a Soviet Scholarship in 1933.^[3]

In 1937, O'Higgins was the co-founder, with fellow artists Leopoldo Méndez and Luis Arenal, of the Taller de Gráfica Popular ("People's Graphic Workshop").^[1] The Taller became inspiration to many politically active leftist artists; for example, American expressionist painter Byron Randall went on to found similar artist collectives after becoming an associate member.^[4][5] In May 1940 O'Higgins had the honor of being the only non-native Mexican artist with work included in the seminal "Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art" exhibit organized by the Museum of Modern Art.^[3]

In 1961 O'Higgins was awarded honorary Mexican citizenship for "his contributions to the national arts and education".^[1] One of his murals can be seen at the Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market, Mexico City.^[6]

His 1945 mural for the Ship Scalers Union Hall in Seattle is installed in Kane Hall at the University of Washington in Seattle.^[7][8] The mural depicts Seattle's Ship Scalers Union's (SSU) history as a strongly anti-racist, anti-discriminatory, and progressive force in social politics.^[9]

Among O'Higgins' students was the American graphic designer Bob Cato,^[10] and artist and muralist Marion Greenwood.^[11]

• Acevedo, Esther. "Young Muralists at the Abelardo L. Rodriguez Market." in Mexican Muralism: A Critical History, Alejandro Anreus, Robin Adèle Greeley, and Leonard Folgarait. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 2012, pp. 125–147.
• Espinosa Campos, Eduardo. "Pablo O'Higgins: arte mural para las escuelas". In La pintura mural en los centros de educación en México. Pinacoteca 2003.é
• Flores, Laura. "Pablo O'Higgins: Pintura y Cambio Social." Metamórphosis, Northwest Chicano Magazine of Art and Literature. IV no. 2, col. V no. 1 (1982/1983).ó
• Fundación Cultural María y Pablo O'Higgins. Pablo O'Higgins, Contruyendo vidas. Mexico City 2005.
• Hijar, Alberto. Pablo O'Higgins: Apuntes y dibujos de trabajadores. Monterrey: Secretaría de Educación y Cultura 1987.
• Poniatowska, Elena and Gilbert Bosques. Pablo O'Higgins. Mexico City: Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior 1984.
• UNAM. Pablo O'Higgins: Voz de Lucha y Arte. Mexico City: UNAM-Gobierno del Distrito Federal, Gobierno del Estado de Nuevo León, Fundación Cultural María y Pablo O'Higgins, A.C., 2005.
• Vogel, Susan. Becoming Pablo O'Higgins. San Francisco and Salt Lake City: Pince-Nez Press 2010 ISBN 978-1930074217