Mariana Yampolsky facts for kids

Exhibit of Yampolsky's work at the Museo de Arte Popular.

Mariana Yampolsky (born September 6, 1925 – died May 3, 2002) was a famous Mexican-American photographer. She was a very important artist in Mexican photography during the 1900s. Mariana loved taking pictures of everyday people in the countryside of Mexico.

She was born in the United States. But she moved to Mexico to study art and decided to stay there forever. She became a Mexican citizen in 1958. Mariana started photography to record her travels and art projects. By the 1960s, she began showing her photos to the public. Her work was shown all over the world and won many awards until she passed away in 2002.

About Mariana Yampolsky

Mariana Yampolsky was born on September 6, 1925, in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Oscar Yampolsky, was a sculptor and painter from Russia. He moved to the United States to escape unfair treatment because he was Jewish. Mariana grew up on her grandfather's farm in Illinois. Her mother's family was also Jewish and came from Germany. They later moved to Brazil to escape the Nazis, a group that persecuted Jewish people.

Mariana's family was very smart and artistic. They believed in "global humanism," which means caring about all people around the world. She earned a degree in social sciences from the University of Chicago in 1944. That same year, her father died.

While in college, Mariana learned about a group called the Taller de Gráfica Popular. This group made art with strong messages. She wanted to join them, so she saved money to travel to Mexico. In 1945, Mariana moved to Mexico to study art. She lived there for the rest of her life. She became a Mexican citizen in 1958. Mariana passed away on May 3, 2002. Her husband, Arjen van der Sluis, survived her.

Her Career as an Artist

Mariana Yampolsky is best known for her photography. But she also created prints, lithographs, and paintings. She worked as a curator, which means she organized art shows. She was also an editor for books.

Mariana's art career began when she arrived in Mexico City. She studied painting and sculpture at a school called La Esmeralda. There, she met famous artists like Pablo O'Higgins and Leopoldo Méndez.

Working with the Taller de Gráfica Popular

In 1945, Mariana joined the Taller de Gráfica Popular (People's Graphics Workshop). She was the only woman in the group at that time. This group made art to share political ideas with many people. They often spoke out against fascism. Mariana created prints with this group until 1960. She even became a leader in their Executive Committee.

Her art with the Taller included pictures of Emiliano Zapata and his soldiers. Working with this group helped Mariana fall in love with Mexico. She loved its people, its folk art, and its culture. She even learned many traditional Mexican folk dances. To support herself, Mariana also taught English literature at a school.

She met other artists who helped her learn Spanish. They encouraged her to draw everything she saw in Mexico. Mariana also organized art exhibitions in Mexico and other countries. These included shows in Sweden, Japan, and France.

Her Photography Work

Mariana started taking photos in 1948. At first, she used her camera to record her travels. She also photographed the activities of the Taller de Gráfica Popular. She studied photography with famous photographers Lola Alvarez Bravo and Manuel Álvarez Bravo. Their influence can be seen in her photos like "The Blessing of the Corn" (1960s).

Her first photography show was in 1960. For three years in the late 1960s, she traveled through Mexico's countryside. She took photos for a publishing company. These pictures showed murals, folk art, and everyday life. From the 1970s to the 1990s, her photos were shown in solo exhibitions. These shows were in the Netherlands, England, and Mexico. Mariana Yampolsky took more than 66,000 photographs during her lifetime.

Editor and Curator

Mariana also worked as an editor for school textbooks. These books used many pictures of paintings, sculptures, and photos. She helped create books for math, literature, science, and social studies. She worked on about 550 million of these books!

In the 1960s and 1970s, she worked on a book about Mexican folk art. She also drew illustrations for a newspaper in Mexico City. Mariana helped illustrate a children's book called "Colibrí." In 1980, she created a book called "Niños" (Children). This book was full of pictures of children from different times in history. Throughout the 1980s, she edited many art books. These books were about Mexican artists, food, toys, and traditions.

Mariana's work can be found in 15 books about her art. Her photos are also in many public and private art collections around the world. These include the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico and The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. Her work has been shown in over 50 solo exhibitions. It has also been part of about 150 group shows internationally.

Mariana helped build large collections of images about Mexico. She introduced many important Mexican photographers to the Wittliff Foundation. This foundation has one of the biggest collections of Mexican images in the United States.

Her Artistic Style

Mariana Yampolsky's photography was influenced by other great photographers. These included Tina Modotti, Manuel and Lola Álvarez Bravo, and Héctor García. Her work often showed classic Mexican images. These included cacti, agave plants, horses, and farm workers. She also explored themes like scarcity, death, and poverty.

Most of her photos focused on rural life in Mexico during the 1900s. She liked to photograph common people, even when it wasn't a popular subject. Mariana once said that her art showed "moments, in the lives of people that others perhaps don't see or don't value." Her photos show pride in Mexico's plants and people. They often highlight the dignity of farm work.

Her work is part of a Mexican tradition of showing the full picture of Mexican culture. This includes difficult parts like poverty and illness. Mariana's photographs were not staged. She convinced people to go about their normal lives while she took pictures. Her photos aimed to show different parts of poverty in Mexico.

Mariana also loved promoting Mexican handcrafts and folk art. She collected over 3,000 pieces of folk art during her life. Some of her photos featured these crafts. An exhibition of her collection was shown in 2012 at the Museo de Arte Popular in Mexico City.

Awards and Recognition

Mariana Yampolsky was recognized by the Sistema Nacional de Creadores, a national arts program. She received the Miguel Othón de Mendizábal Prize in 2000.

After she passed away, the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes honored her in 2012. They recognized her amazing life's work.

Mariana Yampolsky Foundation

The Mariana Yampolsky Foundation was created to honor her memory. It also helps promote her artwork. Her husband, Arjen van der Sluis, leads the Foundation. He donated their home in Mexico City to the Foundation.

The Foundation has over 70,000 photo negatives related to Mariana and her life. It also keeps a complete collection of the "Colibrí" book series that Mariana edited.

See also

In Spanish: Mariana Yampolsky para niños