Portrait of Miguel Arochi y Baeza

The work of José María Estrada, one of the most famous -and peculiar- representatives of the XlXth-century Jalisco School, is a half-naïve, half-Academic blend of neo-Hispanic artistic canons and of the regional portrait painting of his day. Paradoxically Estrada, traditionally considered a popular artist and portrayer of typical lower-class characters, painted portraits of the regions middle class in a style which blends naiveté in its recreation of surroundings, using the gray-greens that typified his palette, with polished technique and minute detail in the accurate rendering of attire and finery -in this case a frock coat, a gold and black damask waistcoat (with an intricate design), a watch chain, a silk shirt, a high top hat and a bow tie with a jeweled pin. The solemnity with which the adolescent Miguel Arochi, a descendent of Francisco Arochi, a prosperous businessman who settled in Guadalajara, was painted is outstanding. The figure is shown front-on. In its right hand is a letter with a series of annotations alluding to respect for Canon Domingo Sánchez Reza, his probable godfather. The face, quite expressionless and with a serene air, is pale, with a long, straight nose and intensely crimson lips which go with the red of the tie pin and reinforce the attractive color contrast. The portrait, which captures an instant in the passage to maturity and prosperity, would appear to be of a mannequin displaying the imported clothing that was sold in the family store. It entered the collection of the National Fine Arts Institute in 1951 and has formed part of the MUNAL's founding endowment since 1982.