El rebozo 1916

Saturnino Herrán made this pencil and crayon drawing, El Rebozo, in Mexico during the early 20th century. Though unfinished at the time of his death, the artwork offers a powerful statement on Mexican identity. The woman’s partial nudity contrasts with the rebozo, a traditional shawl, hinting at an ambivalent negotiation between indigenous traditions and modern life. Herrán was a key figure in the development of Mexican modernism, he challenged academic styles and aimed to represent the diversity of Mexican society after the Revolution. His work was influenced by the indigenismo movement, which emphasized indigenous culture, and sought to create a new, national art that was both modern and distinctly Mexican. To understand Herrán's art better, one can look to archives, period publications, and collections of Mexican art from that time. Only then can we appreciate how his work both reflected and shaped a rapidly evolving sense of national identity.