Fernando Leal (Born 1896) was born in Mexico City. He taught painting at the Academy of San Carlos, and in 1927was appointed director of the Popular Painting Center in Nonoalco. The center’s was to make art accessible to the working classes. In 1952 he was appointed Ministry of Culture where he took it upon himself to campaign for the rights of artists. Leal also served director of the Coyoacan Outdoor School. Leal was founder of the group 30-30 which published a review that was opposed to academic ideology in art. Leal is best remembered for his mural work, though he also did lithography, painting on canvas and engraving. He occasionally wrote art criticism, and in 1952, he published The right of culture (El derecho de la cultura). He also wrote the history of the Academy of San Carlos which was unfinished.
Leal first studied art at the Academy of San Carlos then went to the Coyoacan Outdoor School where he studied under Alfredo Ramos Martinez. He studied with Rafael Vera de Córdoba, Fernández Ledesma Gabriel, Ramón Alva de la Canal, and Revueltas Fermín. He was among the first painters who participated in the Mexican muralism movement. He was also among the first to create small trial versions of a work in order to find the best means of executing enormous works. He was notable for his early use of images from Mexican popular and rural culture. His art is available through many outlets throughout the world in many finishing options.
