Andrés Curruchich

{{Short description|Guatemalan artist (1891-1969)}}

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{{Infobox person

| name = Andrés Curruchich

| birth_name = Andrés Curruchich Cúmez

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1891|01|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1969|02|18|1891|01|19|df=y}}

| death_place = San Juan Comalapa, Chimaltenango, Guatemala

| nationality = Guatemalan

| relatives = Rosa Elena Curruchich (granddaughter)

| awards = Order of the Quetzal, 1960

| module = {{Infobox artist | embed = yes

| movement = {{startflatlist}}

• Naïve art
• Guatemalan folk art

{{endflatlist}}

}}

}}

Andrés Curruchich (1891–1969) was born in San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala on January 19, 1891.{{Cite web |last=America |first=Indigenous |date=2021-08-21 |title=FEBRUARY 18, 1969 |url=https://indigenousamericacalendar.org/2021/08/21/february-18-1969-2/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=Indigenous America Calendar |language=en}} He was a Guatemalan naïve painter of the Kaqchikel people from the Kaqchikel town of San Juan Comalapa. Andrés Curruchich is considered the first and most important of the naïve painters of San Juan Comalapa. He is considered one the first Maya painters{{Cite book |last=Knoke de Arathoon |first=Barbara and Rosario Mirablés De Polanco |title=Museo Ixchel del Traje Indígena= The Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Dress. |publisher=Datatèxtil |year=1969 |publication-date=February 18, 1969 |pages=58 |language=en, es |trans-title=The Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Dress}} and the founder of Guatemalan folk art.Fry, Michael F.. Historical Dictionary of Guatemala. United States: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2018. He began to paint in the 1920s as a means to try to earn extra money. In the 1930s and 1940s, he was invited to exhibit his works in various festivals and fairs in Guatemala. By 1950, his work was known in Guatemala City, and at this time he began to paint in oils on canvas. During the 1950s he exhibited in Guatemala City and at various galleries in the United States. Curruchich's works were primarily known for showcasing the lives and rituals of indigenous Guatemalans through a realistic lens.Crown, Carol, and Cheryl Rivers. The Narrative Textile. 2018. His paintings also documented the customs, lifestyles, and scenes from daily life of the people in San Juan Comalapa and surrounding villages. He showcases the variety of clothing used by the people in events from everyday life to even clothing saved for special occasions, such as festivals. He died in 1969, in San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala.{{Cite web |date=2020-06-12 |title=2. Andrés Curruchich |url=https://popularpainters-elmuseo.org/2-7-andres-curruchich/ |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=El Museo del Barrio |language=en-US}}

There is a permanent exhibition of his work at the Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Textiles and Clothing in Guatemala City.

Andrés Curruchich spawned a colony of Kaqchikel painters in San Juan Comalapa, which has become a centre for Mayan naïve art in Guatemala. Some 500 artists work in the town, many of them trained by Curruchich.