H.R. No. 1552
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Although nearly two decades have passed since the
tragic death of Manuel Gregorio Acosta on October 25, 1989, the
legacy of this beloved artist continues to resonate in El Paso and
beyond; and
WHEREAS, Manny Acosta was born on May 9, 1921, in the Mexican
village of Aldama, just outside of Chihuahua City, and the
following year, his family moved to Texas; raised alongside his
five siblings in El Paso, Mr. Acosta loved art even as a youth, and
after graduating from Bowie High School in 1941, he joined the U.S.
Army Air Corps, an experience that enabled him to spend time in
Europe visiting such museums as the Louvre in Paris; on concluding
his service, he enrolled at the College of Mines and Metallurgy in
El Paso in 1946 and studied with the famed sculptor Urbici Soler,
and he also attended Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and the
University of California at Santa Barbara; and
WHEREAS, In 1952, Mr. Acosta became an apprentice to New
Mexico painter Peter Hurd, who encouraged the young artist to paint
what he knew best; heeding this advice, Mr. Acosta began painting
the people of El Paso, including his family and friends from his
working-class neighborhood; he also featured bullfighters and
dancers and even the farmworkers and local leaders of the Chicano
movement in his paintings; along with everyday realism, Mr. Acosta
drew from European and American Southwestern influences, and as a
painter, muralist, sculptor, and illustrator, he worked in oil,
watercolor, charcoal, and clay, and he also was known for his
trademark paper hats; and
WHEREAS, Increased attention on his art resulted in Mr.
Acosta's first solo exhibition, which was held at the Chase Gallery
in New York in 1962; four years later, his work was featured at the
El Paso Museum of Art, and in 1969 he was commissioned to paint
Cesar Chavez for the July 4 cover of Time magazine, propelling him
onto the national art scene; his pieces were also showcased through
the Texas and American Water Color Societies and at the Museo del
Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City; and
WHEREAS, In his later years, Mr. Acosta made a living
painting out of his house in South Central El Paso, continuing to
document life on the border; in 1984, he was inducted into the El
Paso County Historical Society Hall of Honor, and his art was
displayed at the Southwestern Americana Museum and on the national
tour "The Art of the People of El Paso"; and
WHEREAS, Today, Mr. Acosta's career is being celebrated
through the El Paso Museum of Art exhibition "Manuel G. Acosta: A
Retrospective - Una Restrospectiva," which runs through June 2009;
the largest and most comprehensive collection of Mr. Acosta's art,
the showcase includes 105 oil and watercolor paintings, as well as
charcoal drawings and the famed portrait of Cesar Chavez, and it
honors the painter by putting his work into a 21st-century
perspective and emphasizing his prominent role within the Mexican
American community; and
WHEREAS, A gifted artist and a chronicler of local history,
Manuel Acosta contributed greatly to the cultural vitality of the
Lone Star State, and he has left behind a legacy that will long be
treasured by his fellow Texans; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 81st Texas
Legislature hereby honor the life and work of Manuel Gregorio
Acosta.
Marquez
______________________________
Speaker of the House
I certify that H.R. No. 1552 was unanimously adopted by a
rising vote of the House on April 30, 2009.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House