Welcome to February

It's time to turn the page on the calendar.  As my readers know, each year I create a calendar using photographs that I have taken.  This year's theme is Mexican art, and the picture for February is "The Fruit Vendor" by Olga Costa.

I saw this painting last year (I think) when the National Museum of Art had a special exhibit of paintings that portrayed Mexican food.  I really liked this picture which is filled with the vast variety of fruits which grow in Mexico.

I had never heard of the artist, however, so prior to writing this post, I did some research.  The painter's actual name was Olga Kostakowsky.  Her parents were Russian Jews who escaped the pogroms prior to World War I.  They settled in Germany, which is where Olga was born.  In 1925 the family moved to Mexico City, and shortly afterwards she adopted the more Spanish-sounding name of Olga Costa.  She studied at Mexico City's Academy of San Carlos where she met and eventually married muralist José Chávez Morado.  She was praised for her colorful and traditionally Mexican style of painting.  "The Fruit Vendor" is one of her most famous works.