Aug 092018
 

Chapala-born Jorge Seimandi Ramírez was a highly-respected art educator at the University of Guadalajara for more than 40 years. He was not interested in the commercial side of art and his own work was rarely sold or exhibited.

Seimandi was born in Chapala on 2 February 1929, the son of Italian-born businessman Juan Seimandi and his wife, Refugio Ramírez, a local Chapala girl. Jorge Seimandi studied art at the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Guadalajara from 1947 to 1950. His teachers included Ixca Farías, Leopoldo Bancalari and Rubén Mora Gálvez.

Jorge Seimandi. Lake Chapala.. Credit: Arq. Juan Jorge Seimandi.

Jorge Seimandi. Lake Chapala. Credit: Arq. Juan Jorge Seimandi.

Recognized for his proficiency in both oils and watercolors, Seimandi painted still lifes, figurative studies, portraits and landscapes, some of which were exhibited in the 1950s.

His work was exhibited at the Exhibition of the School of Fine Arts (Exposición Anual de la Escuela de Bellas Artes) in Guadalajara in 1949 (where he won a “diploma of recognition”); in two shows at the city’s Galerías Degollado, in 1957 and 1958;and at at the Mexican-North American Cultural Institute (Instituto Cultural Mexicano Norteamericano de Jalisco). Seimandi  held solo shows at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas (1970; 1994) and at the Galería Jorge Martínez (1998).

Jorge Seimandi. Undated still life. Photo credit: A. Hinojosa/Informador.

Jorge Seimandi. Undated still life. Photo credit: A. Hinojosa/Informador.

Along with Alfonso de Lara Gallardo, Jorge Navarro Hernández and others, Seimandi was an active member of Grupo Integración, a loose collective of modernistic artists founded in 1966.

Seimandi was never a full-time professional painter but pursued art in his spare time while earning a qualification in law. He was appointed head of the Jalisco State Tourism Office in 1957. He taught art and art history at the University of Guadalajara’s Escuela de Bellas Artes (Fine Arts School) from 1953 to 1981, where he inspired the next generation of artists. He directed the school from 1978-1981. He was also appointed Professor of Drawing for the Jalisco State Primary Schools, a position that enabled him to research basic education in drawing.

Jorge Seimandi. Still life. Credit: Arq. Juan Jorge Seimandi.

Jorge Seimandi. Still life. Credit: Arq. Juan Jorge Seimandi.

Following his death in Guadalajara on 2 October 2013, at the age of 84, his family announced their intention to compile a complete catalog of his works, many of which he gave to friends, and to arrange a retrospective exhibition at the University of Guadalajara’s Museo de las Artes. If they are successful, this will be a show worth seeing!

Acknowledgment

  • My thanks to Arq. Juan Jorge Seimandi for sharing photos of his father’s paintings, and for permission to reproduce them here. Arq. Juan Jorge Seimandi is writing a richly illustrated book about his father’s life and work.

Sources

  • El Informador: 25 April 1970; 26 June 1994; 25 Nov 1998; 28 Nov 1998.
  • Thamara Villaseñor. 2013. “Seimandi y su pasión por la pintura.” El Informador, 1 Dec 2013, 11-B.

Comments, corrections or additional material related to any of the writers and artists featured in our series of mini-bios are welcomed. Please use the comments feature at the bottom of individual posts, or email us.

  6 Responses to “Chapala-born artist Jorge Seimandi painted for pleasure not profit”

  1. Thanks to all the staff for publishing my Dad´s biography concerning to its own live like an Artist , Teacher and Painter in Chapala & Guadalajara, Mexico..

    • Estimado Arq. Seimandi, Gracias por tus amables palabras. Esta es una operación de un solo hombre, pero me aseguraré de agradecer a mi esposa, la correctora de pruebas… Saludos, TB.

  2. MUCHO MAS MERITO TODAVIA DE HABERSE HECHO CARGO UNA SOLA PERSONA DE PUBLICARLO, MI RECONOCIMIENTO Y AGRADECIMIENTO NUEVAMENTE POR SU DISPOSICION Y BUENA VOLUNTAD DE PUBLICAR UNA PARTE DE LA VIDA DE MI PADRE , UN PERSONAJE INOLVIDABLE , ESTOY PREPARANDO UN CATALOGO DE SU OBRA Y ANEXANDO PARTE IMPORTANTE DE SU VIDA PROFESIONAL, FAMILIAR, CULTURAL E HISTORICA POR ESTA GDL. GRACIAS DE NUEVO!!!!!

  3. no me habia fijado en la redaccion anterior, salio con muchos errores, lo que quise decir fue :
    ESTOY PREPARANDO UNA EDICION ESPECIAL, UNA ESPECIE DE CURRICULUM DE SU ACTIVIDAD PROFESIONAL COMO MAESTRO DE DIVERSAS MATERIAS EN LOS AMBITOS DE LA SECUNDARIA, PREPARATORIA Y UNIVERSIDAD, SU ACTIVIDAD COMO FUNCIONARIO PUBLICO DEL GOBIERNO MUNICIPAL, ESTATAL Y FEDERAL, Y COMO ARTISTA PLASTICO DES SU INFANCIA HASTA LOS ULTIMOS DIAS DE SU VIDA.
    GRACIAS!

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