Orozco, José Clemente (1883–1949)

Mexican muralist painter. His work was inspired by the Mexican revolution of 1910, such as the series in the Palace of Government, Guadalajara, 1949. Mankind's Struggle 1930 (New School for Social Research, New York) is typical.

Initially a student of architecture, he turned to painting 1909 and subsequently worked both in Mexico and the USA. His art, sombre and dramatic, contains many images of death and suffering, and shows the passionate concern with Mexico's history that inspired its artists after the revolution that began 1910. In later works, this feeling for humanity took a more generalized form. His frescoes include those for the Palace of Fine Arts, Mexico City, 1934, and for the Mexican Supreme Court, 1941. He also produced many easel pictures and lithographs.