Although he began this activity in Guadalajara, he did not produce the bulk of his work until after he moved to Mexico City when he was 58 years old.
As a self-taught painter, his works are relatively simple and often are dismissed as folk painting but they were and his aesthetics were praised by famous artists and architects at the time.
[1][2] His childhood home was on Morelos Street in Guadalajara, a typical house for the area, with a central courtyard, rooms connected by halls lined with railings and flowerpots.
He was initially homeschooled by his father, but completed primary school at the Liceo de Varones, where he took art classes.
[1] While working at a chocolate factory, he noticed the interesting patterns that the grease made on the wrapping paper.
[5][6] His father died in 1911, leaving him the house and a collection of art, handcrafts and antiques, prompting interest in these areas.
The incident forced Reyes Ferreira to sell his childhood home and move to Mexico City.
[4][6] He was helped in his move by artist friends from the capital including André Breton and Frida Kahlo .
[4] He moved into an old colonial house on Milan Street in Colonia Juárez, where he lived with his two sisters, Antonia and Maria.
He also continued to have his house open to writers, intellectuals and artists such as Carlos Pellicer, Salvador Novo, Juan Soriano, Raúl Anguiano, Jorge Enciso, Diego Rivera as well as architects such as Luis Barragán and Matias Goeritz .
[9] As an antiques vender in Guadalajara, he began painting the crepe paper used for wrapping sales just as a way to decorate it.
[1][5] In 1961 he participated in the Exposición de los Hartos, an international art event at the Galería Antonio Souza.
[8] By the time he died, the collection included thousands of objects including 180 paintings, sculptures and other arts from the 17th to 19th centuries which were exhibited in a show called La Mirada Estetica de Jesus Reyes Ferreira at the Museo de Arte Moderno in 2002.
[5] One unique aspect to Reyes Ferreira’s work is that it was painted mostly on fragile crepe paper and sometimes cardboards, materials not made to last.
[3] He laid the crepe paper out over a silk base flat on a table in order to withstand the painting process.
[8] The images he painted include roosters, circus acts, angels, skeletons, horses and flowers.
[3] He was religious which led him to paint images of Christ and the Virgin Mary as well as monks, saints, Adam and Eve, cherubs, angels and devils.
[3] He was self-taught, never accepting the title of “painter.” He claimed that he did not paint but rather “cover in mud” or “smear colors.”[3][9] However, his work impressed others.
[3] He influenced a number of architects in color schemes such as Luis Barragan, Mathias Goeritz, Max Cetto, Juan Sordo Madaleno and Ricardo Legorreta .