100 Years of Raul Anguiano

Anderson Art Gallery Presents

By Chris MacDonald, HB Ambassador/The Local News Columnist

A celebration of the late great Artist Raul Anguiano's 100th Birthday is occurring in Sunset Beach and Long Beach. He was considered the last of the great Mexican muralists of the 20th Century. He lived in Coyoacan, Mexico and Huntington Harbor the last three decades of his life. The much-honored legend's incredible work is being featured at the Anderson Art Gallery in Sunset Beach with an exhibition of his works from the 1950s to the 2000s.

Bill Anderson, Anguiano's brother-in-law, has represented the master since the gallery opened in 1995. The close friends painted together for 32 years, including an incredible mural at East Los Angeles College, which depicts Mexican art history At the present time, Anguiano also is having an important exhibit at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach. The talented man, who started drawing at 5, was born in 1915 and died in 2006.

Anguiano was best known for his murals, along with his portraits, figure drawings, etchings, lithographs, pastels, block prints and watercolors, with an emphasis on the Mayan Culture. In 1949 he was selected as the official artist for the expedition to Bonampak, the jungle that was the home of the Mayans. This trip discovered the Mayan fresco murals. "Raul was very affected by his experience with the Mayan people and it shows in much of his art," said Anderson, the longtime former art teacher, whose own works are in the National Museum of Water Color in Mexico City. "His appreciation of this culture is apparent in the beautiful murals he created for the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, the Mexican Consulate in L.A. and East Los Angeles College."

At his exhibits, there are some beautiful new art books out on Anguiano and his works, autographed by his widow, Brigitta. The artist of more than 50 murals and 100 exhibits has had his work featured in Cuba, Brazil, France, Germany, the former Soviet Union, Mexico, Chile, Japan and the United States. A former art teacher, Anguiano's portraits were even featured in Mexican school books. One of the most famous paintings from the man, who was one of 10 kids and whose father was a cobbler, is "La Espina" (the thorn) depicting a Mayan woman digging a thorn out of her foot with a knife. Some of his local paintings, including the Huntington Harbour Boat Parade and the Sunset Beach Water Tower, can be seen in Anderson Art Gallery, 16812 Pacific Coast Highway, Sunset Beach, California.

 For more information, call (562) 592-4393, e-mail: aagcollection@aol.com. Anderson Art Gallery is open Friday and Saturday from 1-9pm and Sunday, 1-6pm, next to Captain Jack's Restaurant at Pacific Coast Highway. The Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave., Long Beach, is open Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 11-5 and Friday from 11-9. It's free to visit on Target Sundays. It's phone number is 562-216-4190.