Ángel Zárraga

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameÁngel•Zárraga Argüelles
Used nameÁngel•Zárraga
Other namesÁngel Zárraga y Argüelles
Born16 August 1886 in Durango, Durango (MEX)
Died22 September 1946 in Ciudad de México (Mexico City), Ciudad de México (MEX)
NOC Mexico

Biography

Ángel Zárraga was a well-known Mexican painter and poet and became one of the great figures of Mexican culture in the first half of the 20th century. He came from a well-off family and studied in Mexico City at the National School of Fine Arts along with the famous painters Diego Rivera and Saturnino Herrán. Zárraga got in contact with intellectuals and artists of the Mexican Youth Athenaeum movement and the art magazine Revista Moderna. In 1904, his family financed a trip for him to Italy, France and Spain, where he had successful exhibitions. Two years later, he studied briefly in Bruxelles. After a return to Mexico Zárraga went to Italy in 1909 and then settled in France, where he lived for over 30 years. Here, he adopted influences of Cubism and Impressionism but also of the Renaissance, particularly Paul Cézanne and Giotto di Bondone. Zárraga’s murals, especially in churches, brought him international fame as a muralist and decorator of large spaces. As a member of the Mexican diplomatic corps, he served for several years as a cultural attaché at the Mexican Embassy.

When he exhibited in New York during the Great Depression and the collapse of the international art market, Zárraga lost sponsors and friends. He became depressed, preferring mystical and religious subjects. To escape from World War II, he returned to his home country and created murals, notably in the Monterrey cathedral. As a poet, he left poems and aesthetic notes reflecting his artistic activities. He died of pneumonia, leaving unfinished his murals planned for the Biblioteca México.

In the 1928 catalog, all 16 works he submitted are classified as paintings, probably all oil paintings. Two are reproduced in the catalog and can therefore be clearly identified as having been submitted: a Scene de rugby (also Partie de football, 1925, oil on canvas, 100 x 80 cm) and Footballeur negre (actually Le Jeune footballeur, 1927, oil on canvas, 92 × 72 cm). The latter is supposed to show the Brazilian international Fausto dos Santos (1905-1939). According to a description in a contemporary newspaper, this painting could also correspond to Le Ballon. An illustration of Tres futbolistas (aka Tres futbolistas con boina, 1921, oil on canvas, 214 x 124,5 cm) is included in the 1932 catalog. The painting is, like some of his other works on soccer, a motif in a series of stamps of Mexico issued 1986.

More paintings can be clearly identified. With his paintings of black and female footballers Zárraga was a pioneer. In France, women’s soccer had a short heyday after the end of World War I. This topic is represented by the paintings La futbolista rubia (1926, oil on canvas, 145 x 90 cm) and La futbolista Morena (1926, oil on canvas). The following paintings could also be traced: Remate de cabeza (aka Heading, 1926, oil on cardboard, 41 x 33 cm), Futbolistas en el Llano (probably exhibited as Le but dégagé, 1924-28, oil on canvas, 175 x 122 cm), El futbolista (probably exhibited as Portrait d’un Footballeur, (1924-28, Oil on canvas, 175 x 122 cm), Retrato de un jugador de rugby (probably exhibited as Footballeur nègre (rugby), 1925, oil on canvas, 91 x 65 cm), and Départ (Rugby) (1921, oil on canvas, 60 x 74 cm). A drawing titled Une touche is obviously a preliminary study for Heading. There may also, however, be other oil paintings with this title. Further information is unfortunately lacking on some of the paintings that are recognizable in photos from the exhibition in Amsterdam, including the large-format work Athlètes.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1928 Summer Olympics Art Competitions MEX Ángel Zárraga
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) AC
1932 Summer Olympics Art Competitions MEX Ángel Zárraga
Painting, Paintings, Open (Olympic) HC