Francisco Goitia

Who was Francisco Goitia?

Francisco Bollaín y Goitia García was a Mexican artist. Goitia was a reclusive and complicated man, whose life and work was heavily influenced by the Mexican Revolution. He was of the Mexican muralism generation but did not share its politics. Goitia worked with the Francisco Villa army, creating works depicting the violence of that time and afterwards, worked with anthropologist Manuel Gamio depicting indigenous history and culture. He lived most of the last half of his life simply in then-rural Xochimilco, away from the cultural and intellectual life of Mexico City, dying there in his house. He did not leave behind a large collection of work, but a number of his paintings are notable in their own right such as Tata Jesucristo. His work has been recognized with a film biography and a museum in Zacatecas named after him.