GERMÁN CUETO
Germán Cueto (Mexico City, 1893-1975) was a sculptor, painter, and author whose artistic practice was an integral part of the beginning of Mexico’s revolutionary art scene. He was involved in several groups and movements including the Estridentista movement and was also a founding member of the Liga de Escritores y Artistas Revolucionarios (LEAR). In addition to his influence in Mexico, Cueto linked with Modernist movements abroad, including the Parisian group Cercle et Carré. While Cueto was a pivotal member of several avant-garde movements, he also had a deep interest in traditional Mexican art, strongly expressed in the form of masks. Also, Cueto was well known for his monumental abstract sculptures, which became part of the pantheon of public arts in Mexico City. Among them is Cueto’s El Corredor, made for the Route of Friendship for the XIX Olympic Games held in Mexico City in 1968.
Although he did not receive the recognition that many of his contemporaries did during his lifetime, Cueto participated in many exhibitions. During his time in Paris, he exhibited with the Cercle et le Carré group. After returning to Mexico, he showed in several significant galleries including Galería de Arte Mexicano in Mexico City in 1932 and again in 1944 for a major solo exhibition, UNAM gallery in 1933, Mont-Orendain gallery in Mexico City in 1948, Glardecor gallery in Mexico City in 1951, Salón de la Plástica Mexicana in 1954, Excélsior gallery and Proteo gallery in Mexico City in 1955, and the Instituto Francés de América Latina in1960. Since his death, Cueto has been featured in essential retrospective exhibitions including Germán Cueto, 1893- 1975: Homenaje a sus 60 años de labor artística: esculturas, pinturas, dibujos, esmaltes y otras técnicas, Museo de Arte Moderno (1981); and Germán Cueto, Museo Reina Sofia (2005). He was also part of México 1900-1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, and the Avant-Garde at the Dallas Museum of Art (previously presented at the Grand Palais, Paris), and Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism 1910-1950, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in June 2017 (previously presented at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City).
EDUCATION
1919
Academia de San Carlos, Mexico City
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010
Germán Cueto: Hierros y Sombras, Freijo Fine Art Gallery, Madrid, Spain
2006
Germán Cueto, Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City
Germán Cueto: La memoria como vanguardia, Museo Federico Silva, San Luis Potosí, Mexico; Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Zapopan, Mexico
2005
Germán Cueto, Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
1981
Germán Cueto, 1893-1975: Homenaje a Sus 60 Años De Labor Artística: Esculturas, Pinturas, Dibujos, Esmaltes y Otras Técnicas, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City
1965
Obras de Germán Cueto, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City
1954
Germán Cueto, Suenks-Franska Konstgalleriet, Stockholm, Sweden
Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, Mexico City
1951
Germán Cueto, Clardecor Gallery, Mexico City
1948
Germán Cueto, Mont-Orendain Gallery, Mexico City
1944
Germán Cueto, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2017
Los Modernos: Dialogues France / Mexique, Musée des Beaux-Arts of Lyon, France
México 1900-1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, and the Avant-Garde, Dallas Museum of Art, US
Margen-Borde-Orilla, curated by Patrick Charpenel, Páramo, Guadalajara, Mexico
Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910–1950, Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, US
2016
México 1900-1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco, and the Avant-Garde, Grand Palais, Paris, France
Donación Maples Arce, Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City
Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910–1950, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, US
2015
Los Modernos, Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico City
2014
50 Años, 50 Obras, Museo del Arte Moderno, Mexico City
2011
Cold America: Geometric Abstraction in Latin America, 1934-1973, Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain
2006
Vasos Comunicantes 1900-1950: Vanguardias Latinoamericanas y Europa, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, Madrid, Spain
1999
La escultura en México, Museo de Pontevedra, Pontevedra, Spain
1998
Forjar el Espacio, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas, Spain; Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain; Museo de Bellas Artes de Calais, Calais, France
1990
París-Arte, Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain
1986
Futurismo & Futurismi, Palazzo Grassi de Venecia, Venicia, Italy
1964
Bienal de Escultura de México, Mexico City
1954
Salón de Plástica Mexicana, Mexico City
1937
Acción de L.E.A.R, Galería de Arte, Universidad Nacional, Mexico City
1933
Salón de Otoño madrileño, Madrid, Spain
1931
Salon des Surindépendants, Paris, France
1930
Cercle et Carré, Gallery 23, Paris, France; Dalmau Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
Artistas Latinoamericanos, organized by Joaquín Torres-García, Galería Zak, Saint-Germain- des Près, France
1929
Exposición grupal, Quatre Gallery, Paris, France
Salon des Surindépendants, Paris, France
1928
Exposición grupal, Renaissance Gallery, Paris, France
1924
Café de Nadie, El Café de Nadie, Mexico City
COLLECTIONS
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, US
Casa Estudio Luis Barragán, Mexico City
Musée d’Art Moderne de Lille Métropole, Villeneuve-d’Ascq, France
Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2018
Klich, Lynda. The Noisemakers: Estridentismo, Vanguardism, and Social Action in Post-revolutionary Mexico (The Phillips Collection Book Prize Series). Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2018.
2016
Klich, Lynda. “Mexico Estridentista” in Paint the Revolution: Mexican Modernism, 1910-1950. Exhibition catalogue. Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia Museum of Art; Mexico City: Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes; New Haven: In association with Yale University Press, 2016.
Herrera Martínez Claudia, y Sánchez M. E. Duarte. Donación Maples Arce. Exhibition Catalogue. Mexico City: Museo Nacional de Arte: INBA, 2016.
2013
Mirkin, Dina. “Lola y Germán Cueto: dos rutas al vanguardismo en el México posrevolucionario” in Codo a Codo: Parejas De Artistas En México. Mexico City: Universidad Iberoamericana, 2013.
2012
Dumay, María G. 60 Artistas plásticos en el Borda. Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico: Instituto de Cultural de Morelos, 2012.
2010
Germán Cueto: Hierros y sombras. Exhibition Catalogue. Madrid: Freijo Fine Art Gallery, 2010.
2009
Rashkin, Elissa J. The Stridentist Movement in Mexico. The Avant-Garde and Cultural Change in the 920’s. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2009.
2007
Germán Cueto. Mexico: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 2007.
2006
Germán Cueto. Exhibition Catalogue. Mexico City: Museo de Arte Alvar y Carmen T. de Carrillo Gil, 2006.
Germán Cueto: La memoria como vanguardia. Exhibition Catalogue. San Luis Potosí: Museo Federico Silva, 2006.
Vasos comunicantes 1900-1950: Vanguardias latinoamericanas y Europa. Exhibition Catalogue. Madrid: Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Esteban Vicente, 2006.
Navarrete, Sylvia. “Germán Cueto. Experimentación y vanguardia,” in Germán Cueto, 1893-1975. Mexico: INBA/MACG, 2006.
2004
Serge Fauchereau. Germán Cueto. Exhibition Catalogue. Madrid: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, 2004.
1999
Bosch Romeu, Teresa. Germán Cueto, Un artista renovador. Mexico, D.F: Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 1999.
Moyssén, Xavier, Raúl Anguiano, and Luis Nishizawa. El escultor Germán Cueto y su tiempo. Mexico: Academia de Artes, 1999.
1981
Germán Cueto, 1893-1975: Homenaje a sus 60 años de labor artística: Esculturas, pinturas, dibujos, esmaltes y otras técnicas. Exhibition Catalogue, México, D.F: Museo de Arte Moderno, Bosque de Chapultepec, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1981.
1965
Obras de Germán Cueto. Exhibition Catalogue. México, D.F: Museo de Arte Moderno, 1965.
