Arturo García Bustos
Mexican, 1927 - 2017Indígenos de Tlahuac (Indigenous People of Tlahuac) from Mexican People portfolio, 1946
Not on view
Lithograph on paper
Dimensions14 15/16 × 17 9/16 in.
Image: 11 1/4 × 13 7/8 in.
Gift of Mr. Jack B. Pierson, 1987.31.7
In this print, Arturo García Bustos depicts three peasants or indígenos harvesting crops from the chinampas or floating gardens in one of the major agricultural neighborhoods of southern Mexico City, Tlahuac. Chinampas are a sustainable agricultural system that date back to the Aztec Empire. The chinampas of Tlahuac played an important role throughout Mexican history. Responsible for supplying the capital with food and crops, it also played a pivotal role during the agrarian conflicts led by Emiliano Zapata during the Mexican Revolution.
Bustos was one of the youngest members of the TGP in the mid-1940s. Receiving training from Frida Khalo, Diego Rivera, and Leopoldo Méndez, he may have been influenced by Rivera’s portrayals of indigenous people or the TGP’s depictions of agrarian scenes.
