Martín Ramírez

1895-1963

Martín Ramírez, a Mexican immigrant to the USA, was considered a virtually mute schizophrenic. Hospitalized in 1930, he began to draw only 13 years before his death. His first works were confiscated and destroyed at the end of each day by the hospital authorities but the arrival of a psychology lecturer, Dr Tarmo Pasto, brought encouragement and materials. With Pasto’s help, Ramírez began to create larger, free-scale compositions. He rapidly developed his own distinctive personal style. An important feature of his work was his use of linear frames and concentric curves encircling a central figure, the contoured lines giving a sense of depth and perspective. Most of the central figures in his artworks are human, often a lone horseman or sometimes a woman, occasionally a train or an animal. Many theories abound concerning Ramírez’s frames and their meaning: some argue a sexual significance while others stress the importance of Ramírez’s background, his experience of the Mexican landscape and folklore surrounding Emiliano Zapata, Mexico’s revolutionary hero. Ramírez worked on whatever materials came his way, including wrappers, waste paper and magazine pages. He left 340 drawings in total. ¹