Carlos Pellicer

Who was Carlos Pellicer?

Carlos Pellicer Cámara, born in Villahermosa, Tabasco, was part of the first wave of modernist Mexican poets and was heavily active in the promotion of Mexican art and literature. An enthusiastic traveller, his work is filled with beautiful depictions of nature, and a certain sexual energy that is shared with his contemporary, Octavio Paz.

The young Pellicer studied in Mexico City. In August 1921, along with Vicente Lombardo Toledano, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and Xavier Guerrero, he founded the Grupo Solidario del Movimiento Obrero. He lectured in modern poetry at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and served as the director of the Department of Fine Arts. He helped establish a number of museums, including the Frida Kahlo and Anahuacalli museums in Mexico City. In 1976 he was elected to the Senate, representing Tabasco for the PRI.

His early poems, as in Colores en el mar and Piedra de sacrificios, often depicted serene and halcyon landscapes. During his later period, however, Pellicer explored the historical and spiritual implications of his experience of nature.