Francisco Corzas

Corzas died in 1983 in Mexico City at the age of forty-seven after battling an illness for three years. For the time prior to his death, he painted almost constantly, even at night, leading to speculation that he foresaw his end.

His work remained recognized in Europe after he moved back to Mexico, with invitations to produce work there and in the United States. He spent time again in Europe in the 1970s, receiving a Des Art grant from the French government. He spent a year at the Bramsen workshop in Paris then traveled to various European countries. He created ten lithographs called los Profetas at the Caprina Graphics workshop in Rome and one other called Umbrío por la pena with the Upiglio workshop in Milan, and eleven lithographs related to the Carmina Burana with the Olivetti workshop. He also did painting, producing two canvases for the Vatican called Profeta (found in Room 12) and Plegaria (in the Stampa Room) . In addition to those commissions, he also received one for ten lithographs for Lublin Press in New York as well as one from the Fundación Cultural Televisa to create a work called Agonías y otras ofrendas.

In Italy in 1967, Corzas met his future wife, Bianca Dall’Occa, a young widow eleven years his senior. They met at a restaurant where Francisco was painting a mural and where Bianca sang and played the guitar in exchange for meals. The relationship began as a friendship, taking long walks and conversing. Bianca followed Corzas to Mexico to marry him and they remained together until his death. However, the relationship was rocky. Corzas was fascinated by music, poetry, dance, and the pleasures of life, including romantic affairs. He had mood swings as well and Bianca worked to create order in his life and provide stability.

Much of his work is found outside of Mexico, some in museums and others in private collections. In Mexico, his work can be found in the Museo de Arte Moderno (la Empaquetada (1966)) and the Museo Carrillo Gil, as well as the Fundación Cultural Televisa.

Corzas returned to live in Mexico in the 1960s but returned to Europe again for a time in the 1970s to live and work.

He had fourteen individual exhibitions and participated in forty three in various countries of the world including Rome, Florence, Venice, Belgrade, Prague, Brussels, Vienna, New Delhi, Mumbai, Osaka, New York, San Antonio, Los Angeles, Montreal, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro and Santiago de Chile. The first individual exhibition was at the YMCA in Rome in 1958, followed by another at the Trentadue Gallery in Milan and various collective exhibitions. When he returned to Mexico he initially showed his work at the Antonio Souza Gallery. However, his first important exhibition was that of large-scale figurative works at the Galería Misrachi in 1962. By 1972, he was important enough to warrant a retrospective at the Palacio de Bellas Artes called “Francisco Corzas, 1962-1972, followed by an individual show at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 1976.

The first recognition of his work was a silver medal at the Via Margutta International Fair in Rome in 1958, which gave his work international notice. He also participated in competitions in Oslo, Frenchen (Germany) and San Juan, Puerto Rico. In Mexico, he received an honorary mention from the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, of which he became a member. In 1964 he received the first Acquisition Prize of Salón 65 of Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. In 1998, fifteen years after his death, there was a homage to the artist at the Centro Cultural San Ángel, with José Luis Cuevas, Rafael Coronel, Javier Juárez and Raymundo Sesma among others.

In 1956, at the age of nineteen, Corzas went to Italy to study, accompanied by Humberto Kubli. Kubli returned to Mexico soon after, but Corzas stayed in Rome in the ancient Trastevere neighborhood. He considered his three years there to be his real formation as a painter. He studied fresco painting at the Accademia San Giacomo and figure drawing at the Brera Academy. However, more importantly, his time in Europe allowed him to visit various museums to learn about and develop a passion for classic European art, which had great influence on his aesthetics. To support himself, he toured parts of Europe to earn money singing.

At the age of fourteen, he enrolled in La Esmeralda, with his mother’s support, despite their still dire financial circumstances. He studied there from 1951 to 1955 under teachers such as Agustín Lazo, Manuel Rodríguez Lozano, Carlos Orozco Romero, María Izquierdo and Juan Soriano . During this time, he discovered that he could not only paint, but had an exceptional baritone voice, which would serve him economically as well. One of these endeavors was the formation of the group Trio La Esmeralda with Felipe Zaúl Peña and Raúl Anguiano, which performed at student parties.

Corzas began his art career while still studying in Europe in the latter 1950s. He returned to Mexico in 1962, but struggled for a time because his work was not yet well appreciated. Although he worked almost constantly, he produced only about 1,500 works because of his untimely death. His last work, called La modelo, was auctioned off in 2011. It was created during the last days of his life.

Francisco Corzas Chávez (October 4, 1936 - September 15, 1983) was a Mexican painter and printmaker, part of the Generación de la Ruptura. He was born in a very poor family but managed to study art in both Mexico and Italy, beginning his art career in Europe. He moved back to Mexico in the 1960s, but kept career ties in Europe with several commissions as well as exhibitions. Although he was a prolific creator, there are only about 1,500 of his works in existence because of his early death at age 47. His works can be found in museums and private collections in Europe (including the Vatican) and Mexico.