Stateside

Shining the historical spotlight on overlooked yet revered Michigan-based muralist and painter Carlos Lopez

Michigan Public | By Elizabeth Harlow

Published September 22, 2021 at 5:34 PM EDT

1 of 4 — Cuban-born, Michigan-based artist Carlos Lopez was a respected painter and teacher, active from his first exhibition in Detroit in 1932 until his early death in 1953.

University of Michigan

Carlos Lopez's watercolor drawing of his mural design for the Paw Paw, Michigan Post Office

2 of 4 — “I think that if we think about his body of work, then it would certainly have to be that he's best known for his murals in public buildings that he painted in the late 1930s and early 1940s.”

"Design for Mural, Paw Paw, Michigan Post Office" By Carlos Lopez for the Treasury Department Section of Fine Arts, ca. 1940 Watercolor over pencil on paper 9 1/2" x 10"

Carlos Lopez / National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Public Buildings Service

A black and white charcoal drawing of the head of a woman with her hair pulled up, gazing to the right

3 of 4 — Carlos Lopez's "Head of a Woman" (charcoal on buff paper)

“He was talented and skilled at so many different things. People talk about his technical ability. He worked in many different media and in many different presentations.”

Carlos Lopez / University of Michigan Museum of Art

A multimedia drawing of a girl, with a soft, hollow-eyed face framed by heavy black lines

4 of 4 — Compared with his earlier "Head of a Woman," this later drawing, "Girl," shows Lopez's technical range and the trajectory of his work over time. Art historians have noted that "Lopez's work became kind of tragic and maybe a little dark" later in his life.

"Girl" (India ink, charcoal, and watercolor on paper, circa 1946-1953)

Carlos Lopez / University of Michigan Museum of Art

Despite a meteoric rise in the U.S. art world in the 1930s and a reputation as one of the most famous and prolific Latino artists of the 1940s, Michigan painter Carlos Lopez has slipped into relative obscurity in public memory. To kick off National Hispanic Heritage Month, Stateside spoke to Diana Paiz of the Michigan History Center about Lopez’s life, legacy, and contributions to public art.

Lopez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1908 and spent much of his early childhood in Spain before moving to the United States with his family at age 11, just after the end of World War I. He honed his talent early through training in Chicago and Detroit. He eventually developed a reputation as a respected art teacher, as well as a technically masterful and versatile painter. Like his more famous contemporary, Diego Rivera, Lopez was particularly acclaimed for his expressionist murals.

Today, his works are available to view in museums including the Detroit Institute of Art and the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and in public buildings across the midwest, including active and former post offices in Birmingham, Plymouth, and Paw Paw, Michigan. You can also see examples of his art and learn more about his legacy in the slideshow and interview above.