Jorge Tovar

In 2003, he received the Tlacuilo Prize from the National Watercolor Museum of Mexico for his life's work.

Tovar collaborated with the Excélsior newspaper, especially with journalist Ana Cecila “Bambi” Traviño, writing about art and related events, interviewing artists. He also drew political cartoons. He was a contributor to the publication La Nueva Picardía Mexicana (New Mexican Mischief, 1960), a book by Armando Jiménez, documenting Mexican customs in over twenty-five illustrations. He also created comics called El nieto del Ahuizotle (The Grandson of Ahuizotle) and El Nahual (The Nahual) . His most notable sculpture is La Mujer Tehuana (The Tehuana Woman), related to a common theme in his work, indigenous women, and also created the Hidalgo monument located in the Independence Garden of Torreón, Coahuila. He has had numerous exhibitions of his work in Mexico, including in the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana.

Along with Mexican painter Jorge Olvera, Tovar founded the School of Fine Arts of Chiapas. He also work on various cultural projects related to the state, promoting its traditional masks, founding the Ballet Bonampark, founding Tuxtla Gutiérrez’s first carnival and more. In 1949 he was invited to become a founding member of the Salón de la Plástica Mexicana by art promoter Fernando Gamboa, of which he remains an active member. In 1955, he founded the Artistas Plásticos Asociados (Associated Fine Artists), along with Vargas and Liuva Kent, with the aim of supporting artists needing money.

Jorge Tovar Santana (born 1 February 1922) is a Mexican painter, sculptor, cartoonist and landscape artist.

Tovar was born in the Santa Maria la Ribera neighborhood in Mexico City on 1 February 1922. In 1940, the government of the State of Mexico gave him a scholarship to study at the Academy of San Carlos, graduating in 1945. He currently lives in his studio-apartment in Villa Coapa, Mexico City. Tovar turned 100 in February 2022.