Untitled
September 6, 2016
The career and legacy of Carlos Lopez is an interesting one because of the stark difference of what he accomplished and how it's described. When you google his name, the first article that appears is called 'Carlos Lopez: A Forgotten Michigan Painter'. But when you dig deeper and read a little further, you find that Lopez was considered one of the most recognized painters in Michigan, as well as being one of the most famous modern painters in the United States during his time. Lopez participated in the U.S. government's federal mural painting projects during the 1930s, and because of his work in Michigan and Illinois, he was considered an integral contributor to the development of American Mural art. Along with these feats, Lopez was described as a hardworking and influential instructor of art at the University of Michigan.
Emigrating from Cuba in 1919, Lopez came to the United States during a time of economic depression. Little did he know at this time that he would go on to train academically as a portrait and landscape painter, and create work that's considered as a bridge between American modern art in Michigan and the state's Latino history. Some of his most identified works were murals sponsored by the Works Progress Administration's for the Public Works of Art Project funded by the United States government. These works were all done on the walls of U.S. post offices, some of the most famous being Boy on a Horse in Springfield, Illinois, Plymouth Trail in Plymouth, Michigan, and The Pioneer Society's Picnic in Birmingham, Michigan.
Our collection at Wayne State University holds four of Lopez's paintings. In 'Untitled', there is a visible artistic shift that Lopez made towards an expressionist painting style. There is an eerie, solitary feeling to the piece, as you see a man with three birds on his shoulder play trumpet. Lopez pushes his expressionistic style in this piece by using unnatural colors, such as a teal tinted green for the man's skin, as well as distorting the figure itself.
Text by Emily Lane Borden