Alejandro Rangel Hidalgo
Alejandro Rangel Hidalgo was born in 1923, living and working most of his life at his family's property called the Nogueras Hacienda in Comala, Colima, Mexico.
[1] However, the economy and the sugar cane mill collapsed after the Mexican Revolution, and Rangel's parents did not have the money to send him or his brothers to school.
Father and sons learned metalworking skills to keep the hacienda running and worked with carpenters to make and repair furniture.
In 1947, Rangel won a prize with a scholarship for the illustrations he made for the book Pedro Páramo, written by his friend Juan Rulfo.
[2] Rangel's painting shows an obsession with dividing light and shadow, with works focusing of overall forms and eliminating details with the aim of conveying the essence of the object.
[1] Many of his paintings are based on the natural landscapes and vegetation of the Nogueras area, synthesizing leaves, flowers, fruits, insects and birds along with backgrounds and plays of light and shadow.
[2][4] His best known work involved the designing of Christmas cards for UNICEF and the New York Graphic Society, which gave him international recognition.
[2] While involved with the University Institute of Fine Arts, he created the work called “Coro de Niños Cantores” (Choir of Child Singers).
This furniture was also popular with embassies and presidential suites, because of its clean lines, its details and the use of fine tropical hardwoods such as mahogany and a local wood called “parota.”[2] Rangel was involved in community activities for the Nogueras area.
When the sugar cane economy collapsed he worked to help local families start new businesses such as stores and restaurants.
He also used his earnings to sponsor local Catholic festivals and traditions and invited priests to the hacienda and give mass at the facilities 16th century Franciscan chapel.
[2] In 1975, Rangel and one of his brothers obtained federal funding and founded the School of Artesans in Comala, where he taught design, painting and furniture making.
During this time, he also created designs for blown glass for artisans in Tonalá and Tlaquepaque in Jalisco and founded Colima's first school for social workers along with his wife Margarita Septién Rul.
Similar to the School of Artisans, it helps to preserve and promote traditional handcrafts which many families in Colima still depend on for their living.
[1][2] When he died, he bequeathed the property to the University of Colima, which converted it into a Centro Universitario de Estudios e Investigación, an Ecological Park and the Alejandro Rangel Hidalgo Museum, which has received more than 100,000 visitors since opening in the 2000s.
During this time, Rangel worked at the school for which he obtained federal funding, specializing in training craftsmen to build furniture that he designed, now called Rangeliano.
[1] One hallway is dedicated to the Christmas card collection Rangel designed for UNICEF and the New York Graphic Society, which gave him international recognition.
One of the most important annual festivals organized by the state Secretary of Culture is that named after the artists featuring workshops in arts and handcrafts .
