Artist of the day: April 2026

Friday, April 10, 2026

Artist of the Day, April 10, 2026 : Ángela Gurría Davó, a Mexican sculptor (#2497)

Ángela Gurría Davó (1929 – 2023) was a Mexican sculptor and the first woman to become a member of the Mexican Academy of Arts in In 2013 he won the National Prize for Science and Arts in the area of Fine Arts in his country.
Biography

Gurría is the last youngest daughter of a traditional and rigid family from Chiapas. Since she was a child, when she was attracted to listening to the music from the activities carried out by the stonemasons who were near her home in Coyoacán, she decided to become an artist. However, in the 1940’s, Mexico was still governed by serious prejudices against the professional development of women, so it had to be trained as a self-taught in the field of sculpture.

From 1946 to 1949, he entered the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) to carry out studies of Hispanic and Spanish Letters. At that time, she intended to devote herself to being a writer, however, she changed her mind and returned to her activities in the plastic arts.

Subsequently, in 1949-1952, Angela began her career as a sculptor when she entered the Mexico City Center (current University of the Americas) and then became a student for six years of the sculptor Germán Cueto who introduced abstractionism to the sculptural forms in Mexico. He later worked on his studies under the teachings of Mario Zamora, in the foundry of Abraham González and in the workshop of Manuel Montiel Blancas. He later ventured into studies to develop his plastic arts techniques in England, France, Italy, the United States and Greece.

At that time, the sculptor signed her works under the male pseudonyms: Alberto Urría or Ángel Urría because she anticipated the disapproval that would arise when she gave her works with her real name. It was achieving success and recognition when he dedicated himself to the creation of monumental public works in various parts of Mexico. His first monumental piece made in 1965 was “The Workers’ Family” and was followed in 1967 by the creation of a lattice door 18 meters high and 3.5 meters wide for the main entrance of the factory established by the Bank of Mexico for the manufacture of banknotes. For this work, she received his first prize at the III Mexican Biennial of Sculpture of 1967.

Over time, he became a pioneer of modern sculptural art in Mexico City and, by 1970, he had already left anonymity and achieved worldwide recognition and fame. Ángela Gurría also served as a sculpture teacher at the Universidad Iberoamericana in 1961 and in 1963 at the University of the Americas. She participated in the Advisory Council of the Institute of Political, Economic and Social Studies (IEPES) in 1981. She has been a member of the Mexican Plastics Hall since 1966 and the Academy of Arts since 1973.

Ángela Gurría stood out within her monumental works and public art for the complexity and abstraction of her technique that she sets within nature. He defines his sculptural works as ideas that form his own development and space as the element that expresses his own geometry

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Ángela Gurría Davó or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Ms. Ángela Gurría Davó

Dialéctica (Flor del Desierto), 1960

Tepozteco, 1967-68

a Maqueta para "Río Papaloapan", 1970

Río Papaloapan, 1970

Construcción abstracta, 1970

Durmiente, 1970

Mariposa, 1970

Mujer recostada, 1970

Proyecto para fuente, 1970

Maqueta para "Río Grijalva", 1974

Maqueta para "Árbol con pájaros", 1976

Maqueta para "Homenaje a la Ceiba", 1976

Puerta de señalamiento (triptych), 1976-90

Dos ranas, 1980

Personaje (bust), 1980

Calaca I, 1983

¡Ya basta!, 1993

Cactus (maqueta), 1993

Cactus, 1993

Calavera, 1993

Flor de cactus, 1993

Florero con flores (Jarrón con flores), 1993

Mural de mariposas o Celosía de mariposas, 1993

Calaca II, 1995

La muerte en Chiapas / Guardianes del Universo, 1995-97

Mariposa roja, 2001-02

Mariposa rosa, 2001-02

Glorieta para la mariposa monarca, 2012

Thursday, April 9, 2026

Artist of the Day, April 9, 2026 : Richard Hutten, a Dutch, product designer (#2496)

Rotterdam based Richard Hutten (1967) is one of the most influential and successful Dutch designers. He is well known for his conceptual and playful designs. A true innovator, he has established himself as one of the leading international figures in his field, continuously pushing the boundaries of design.

Born in The Netherlands, Richard Hutten graduated of the Design Academy in Eindhoven in 1991, the same year he started his own design studio. With a team of experts he is working across furniture design and interior design. Many of his products have become successful design icons and are represented in renowned museums all over the world.

Playfulness is an important aspect of Richard Hutten work. Referring to ‘Homo Ludens or “Playing Man” by the Dutch historian and cultural theorist Professor Johan Huizinga, Richard Hutten’s designs are aiming to contribute to the importance of play as culture. Therefor his designs are not only beautiful but also optimistic and fun.

He is a key exponent of “Droog Design” in which he has been involved since it’s start in 1993, making him one of the main founders of the famous Dutch Design movement. Since 2008 is Richard Hutten the art director of Gispen, Hollands second largest and most famous furniture brand with an almost 100 years history.

His impressive list of clients are all leaders in their field and include Moooi, Muij, HRH Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands, etc.

His work is held in the permanent collections of over 40 museums around the world making him one of the most collected living designers. The list includes MoMA New York, Victoria & Albert Museum London, Centraal Museum Utrecht, Vitra Museum Weil am Rhein, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Design Museum London, Design Museum Gent, Stedelijk Museum ’s Hertogenbosch, Chicago Art Institute and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam.

Winner of numerous international awards, such as the Red Dot Award, LAI interior award, Frame magazine / The great Indoors award and the German Design Award, his work has been extensively published around the globe including world leading magazines such as Domus, Abitare, Interni, New York Times, Washington Post, Wallpaper, Icon, Frame, Mark, The International Herald Tribune, Axis, Elle decoration and many others.

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Richard Hutten, or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only