ALBUM DE ANIMALES MEXICANOS.; Ilustraciones de Gabriel Fernández Ledesma

México: Ediciones de la Secretaría de Educación Pública, 1944. (Rebound with facsimile wrapppers). color plates, illus., b/w charts, wrps. CLASSIC illustrated book . Book is interesting in how it is printed, in the French leaf fashion, i.e. where each page is a double page joined at the foredge, and in this case clearly from recycled paper since one can see colour images and text not belinging to this book on the inside. Most likely due to the war and shortages of paper. The book has large colour plates of the animals, and at the end a zoological tree of animals, vertebrates and mammals. Gabriel Fernandez Ledesma (1900 - 1983) was born in the town of Aguascalientes in the state of the same name. Thanks to a scholarship granted by the state he moved to Mexico City and entered the National School of Fine Arts. In 1925 he taught drawing in the Ministry of Public Education and from very early on worked to promote culture. He directed the pioneering magazine on plastic arts, Forma, which summarized the rich, complex art scene of the late twenties by means of articles and illustrations. he founded the free school of sculpture and direct carving, and in 1926 established a Popular Art Center in the San Pablo district. He guided many child painters in their vocation and exhibited their works at the Seville World Fair in 1929. Together with Fernando Leal, Ramón Alva and others, he built up the ¡30-30! movement that with demands and manifestos attempted to completely change the teaching of art. He was a founder member of the League of Revolutionary Writers and Artists and with the help of the Ministry of Public Education, he exhibited a selection of his colleagues'work in Paris in 1938 under the title of L'Artdans la vie politique mexicaine (Art in the Political Life in Mexico). In 1944 he obtained support from the Guggenheim Foundation and took part in editing and publishing books on Mexican popular art. In addition to his activities as a painter, editor, engraver and lithographer, Fernández Ledesma also dedicated himself to set design, puppet theater and photography and was one of the most prolific artists in Mexican modern art. -Museum Andres Blaisten.