Mexican House

The AMAM’s first painting by a Latin American artist, Orozco’s Mexican House depicts a square, mud-colored structure in a sparse landscape with an ink-black sky. In the left foreground, the spiny fronds of a maguey cactus, a traditional symbol of Mexico, lend specificity to the otherwise austere setting. Lacking any human presence but peopled by ambiguous geometric shapes, the composition evokes a sense of timelessness. Mexican House is typical of Orozco’s style of the 1920s and 30s, noted for its monumental forms and bleak overtones.