Federico (1908) Cantú Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, Sculptor, Wall painter, Illustrator, b. 1908 - d. 1989

Frederico Cantú was a Mexican mural painter, sculptor, engraver and artist who was influenced by the works of Picasso. He was the son of a physician Adolfo Cantú Jáuregui and his wife, the writer María Luisa Garza, also known as Loreley. Between 1924 into the mid 1930s he traveled in Europe and the W\United States. At this time he lived in the Rue Delambre, in Montparnasse. In 1929 he exhibited in the Exposition Park Museum of Los Angeles. Before that, between 1922 and 1924, during academic years, his wife, Luz Fabila spent time with the famous Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. Between 1929 and 1942, Cantú was studying, teaching and working in Los Angeles as well as in New York City. In 1939, he joined the Perls art gallery of New York and within a year became favored by the American art Collector MacKinley Helm. Helm collected works by Cantú and exhibited his works at the Metropolitan Museum, Santa Barbara Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After 1949. the artist started teaching at the University of California. Beginning in the 1950s he began to paint murals -- mostly for private homes. In 1960 his art began to include relief sculpture -- notably for the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS). An impressive number of works in Mexico for public buildings and universities followed. In 1988 he produced his last monument, a memorial to Alfonso Reyes.