Emilio Amero painted this dancer at a time when
Mexican artists were greatly interested in rejecting foreign
influences in favor of expressing ideas of national
culture or Mexicanness. The image shows the influence
of the teaching philosophy of Adolfo Best Maugard,
who devised a “method for creative design” inspired by
basic elements he associated with pre-Columbian and
Mexican folk arts, and with ancient art worldwide.
The outline of the leaping figure against a red background
is simple and intentionally almost childlike.
Over this basic form is an explosion of decorative
embellishment. His costume is covered in wavy lines
and spiraling patterns that create the movement and
energy of the dance in the way our eyes move around
the picture. Not to be contained by the clothing, the
waves burst over the dancer’s head, crowning him
with the fire of a silver sun. A forest of whirling flowers,
circles, and starlike dot clusters in sparkling gold paint
surrounds him. This intense image is contained by a
border, framing it in a wave of deep blue and cool grey.
Amero brings unity to this complex image though
the repeating motifs used to construct the patterns.
According to Best Maugard’s method, even the most
complex of elements can be broken down into seven
primary graphic elements: the spiral, the circle, the
half-circle, the S motif, the curved line, the zigzag
line, and the straight line. The back of the painting
has a quick sketch of the dancer in an early version
of the pose and is also stamped with a label from
the Movimiento Pro Arte Mexicano (Pro Mexican Art
Movement), an initiative organized by Best Maugard to
carry his method to teachers and students throughout
Mexico.
The Mexican government, believing the method
reflected the new nation’s ideals, instituted it in elementary
schools around Mexico City from 1921 to 1924.
By using simple forms to construct complex images,
the Best Maugard method made learning to draw
widely accessible. The recipe did not limit individual
expression and creativity but set the groundwork for
individual artists to transform or recombine motifs in
new ways. In contrast to the way earlier regimes limited
access to visual arts training to an elite minority, the
new curriculum democratized art education by supporting
the individual creativity and self-expression of all
citizens of the new Mexico.
