Ramón Alva de la Canal

Who was Ramón Alva de la Canal?

Ramón Alva de la Canal was a Mexican painter, illustrator, and educator, one of the pioneers of the Mexican muralism movement.

He was born Ramón Pascual Loreto José Alva de la Canal on August 29, 1892 in the Tacubaya, now a neighborhood of Mexico City. He received his artistic training at the Academy of San Carlos and then at the Escuela de Pintural al Aire Libre in Coyoacán under Alfredo Ramos Martínez. He fought in the Mexican Revolution along with Dr Atl and Orozco.

During his career, he was a muralist, engraver, illustrator, theatre director and teacher. He began by joining the Sindicato de Obreros Técnicos, Pintores, Escultores y Grabadores in 1923 which had been convened by José Vasconcelos .

Most of Alva’s work was related to political and cultural movements, beginning with cultural initiatives from the Secretary of Education José Vasconcelos. He was a member of the Stridentist Movement with Leopoldo Mendez and Fermin Revueltas between 1921 and 1926, illustrating many of the publications of that movement. In 1928, he was one of the founding members of the Grupo Revolucionario de Pintores 30-30 along with Fermín Revueltas, Fernando Leal, Gabriel Fernández Ledesma and Cuban Martí Casanovas, which was linked to the Escuelas de Pinturas al Aire Libre movement.