By Natalie Taylor
One San Miguel de Allende family has left a lasting contribution in the art of our city. Their legacy spans almost 200 years, from the 19th century to the present. I had the good fortune of meeting one of the descendants, Rolando Guerrero Garcia, who graciously invited me to his home, showed me some of the artwork of his ancestors, and shared the information he has about them.
Rolando’s great-great grandfather, Jose Maria Barajas, was born in San Miguel de Allende in 1840. Rolando is not sure where Jose Maria Barajas studied, but believes he may have received his art education at the Academia de San Carlos, a renowned college of art, architecture and design, founded in the 18th century. Although he has not found documentation, he believes his ancestor could not have painted as exquisitely as he did, without a solid foundation from a distinguished art school.
The most important works of Jose Maria Barajas are the murals he did in Atotonilco. We know the majority of the murals at the Sanctuary were done by Antonio Martinez de Pocasangre in the 18th century. However, Pocasangre was unable to finish all these murals in his life time, and the work was left incomplete for almost a century. It was Jose Maria Barajas who completed the work in the Capilla de Loreto, in the Sanctuary at Atotonilco. Jose Maria Barajas was a painter on canvas, as well, and Rolando has a number of his paintings at home. Another of his works, is the restoration of a mural in the church of San Juan de Dios. It is located on the left wall, when you enter the church through the main door.
Two generations after Jose Maria Barajas, his grandson, Lorenzo Barajas Moreno, was born in San Miguel de Allende on September 10, 1912. Very early in life he learned to appreciate art in all its forms. He must have shown an artistic inclination, because his paternal grandfather, Jose Maria Barajas began instructing him to drawing and painting, and perhaps guided him toward a career in visual arts. Lorenzo went to the school of arts in Queretaro, and did so well that he was invited to give classes at the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City. However, he did not want to leave his home town, and decided to remain in San Miguel de Allende.
In San Miguel, Lorenzo became a draftsman and cartoonist. He also earned his living by creating announcements and advertising signs for local companies. He was, in effect, a graphic designer without the official title. There were several public works Lorenzo created, which unfortunately have now vanished. One was a large mural showing a map of San Miguel, which was located on one of the walls on the site that was the first gas station in town. That wall is part of the home decorations store, Armida, next to the Instituto Allende. The map, however, is no longer there. He also painted a portrait of Ignacio Ramirez, el Nigromante, whom he greatly admired. That portrait was located inside the Ignacio Ramirez market which burned down in the 1960s. Another work was a painting of el Indio Triste (the Sad Indian), on the street of the same name, which is also gone.
But there are still works of Lorenzo Barajas that we can appreciate to this day, if we can find them. He did the illustrations in El Heroe Olvidado (The Forgotten Hero), a biography of Ignacio Allende. He also did all the drawings in Anecdotes without Importance, a book by Jose Mercadillo, the parish priest of the Parroquia from the 1930s through the 1960s. His cartoons and drawings can also be found in other history books, and in the Providencia magazine, of which he was a contributor for many years. In addition, he did some restoration work of the murals in Atotonilco. Lorenzo was co-founder of the club filatelico sanmiguelense—the philatelic club of San Miguel de Allende. His grandson told me that because it was hard to find many international stamps, Lorenzo meticulously recreated them by hand.
The Barajas family’s art legacy continues with Rolando who has an art degree, from UAQ—the Autonomous University of Queretaro, and is a fine painter himself. He does portraits in oils, in his studio in the family home. The artwork started by his great-great grandfather, Jose Maria Barajas in the 1800s, created an unbroken chain, whose latest link is Rolando Guerrero Garcia.
Natalie Taylor: BA in English Lit and Journalism, Loyola University, Chicago, 1995. MFA in Creative Writing, Vermont College, Montpelier, VT, 1999. Published writer, editor, journalist. Spanish teacher in the US, English teacher in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Translator. www.natalietaylor.org Contact: tangonata@gmail.com
