Teacher and journalist Irma McCall was a resident of Ajijic during the 1960s, and penned a full-page article about Ajijic for a California newspaper in March 1962 in which she called Ajijic an “unspoiled paradise.” At the time, according to McCall, the village had about 2000 inhabitants, ‘principally fishermen,’ and an estimated 200 Americans. McCall […]
Though it seems that she never lived at Lake Chapala, fiber artist Jeanine Cappel, a regular visitor to Guadalajara, was familiar with the lake from at least as early as the mid-1960s, and exhibited in Ajijic in the late 1980s. Jeannine Cappel (née Lange) was born in Chicago on 29 January 1929, and died in […]
Nebraska-based photographer and journalist Jack Bailey (1901-1977) made numerous trips to Mexico in the course of his career. An article he wrote in 1964, while visiting friends in Guadalajara, is the only currently known mention of an obscure and (perhaps mercifully) long forgotten publication named the Chapala Blade. In several articles, Bailey included detailed descriptions […]
Some curious travel posters, purporting to be ‘photorealistic’ images of Ajijic, are currently (August 2025) listed on eBay. Each is available in a variety of prices and sizes, ranging from $5 for 4 x 6″ to $49 for 36 x 48″. Here is the first of the two images currently listed: This pretty (but fictional) […]
Martin Dreyer (1909-2001) and his wife, Margaret “Maggie” Webb Dreyer (1911-1976), spent several weeks in Ajijic in 1962. The Dreyers, both established artists, had opened a joint gallery in Houston a few years earlier. Martin’s entertaining account of their stay in Ajijic is an interesting read. Martin Dreyer was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1909, […]
Mark Coomer (1914-2004) was a much traveled and highly successful commercial artist whose varied works over a long professional career continue to show up regularly at auction. He jumped onto my radar because of a news clipping from 1955 attesting to him donating a painting of “a Mexican market scene near Ajijic, Jalisco, on Lake […]
The rich literary history of Lake Chapala over the past 130 years is exemplified by the extraordinary diversity of short stories that have used the lake as their setting or backdrop. This post considers some of the noteworthy twentieth century examples. The earliest short story (English or Spanish) set, or partially set, at Lake Chapala […]
Stuart Phillips (1901-1981) had work included in a group show in Ajijic in 1971, some years after he retired from an executive position in Chicago. Details of his art education and training are currently unknown. Stuart Grosvenor Stapleton Phillips was born 6 November 1901 in Londonderry, Northern Ireland to an English father and Scottish mother. […]
The Chapala Blade, a short-lived 1960s’ tabloid, is almost certainly the earliest local periodical to be published at Lake Chapala. It began only a month or two after the first issue of the Guadalajara-based Colony Reporter. Unfortunately, almost no evidence remains of the Chapala Blade. No copies of Chapala Blade are known to have survived. […]
For Canadians, who celebrate 1 July as Canada Day, here is a list of Canadian artists and authors who have historical connections to Lake Chapala and who have been profiled on this site. Enjoy! Visual artists Henry Sandham (1842-1910), a well-known Canadian illustrator of the time, illustrated Charles Embree‘s historical novel, A Dream of a […]
It is not surprising that the iconic and historic Chapala Railroad Station, designed by Guillermo de Alba, and completed in 1920, has appealed to so many photographers and artists over the years, and his grandson Martin Casillas de Alba is the author of several books related to Lake Chapala and his family’s links to local […]
Lest it be thought that wishful thinking about Lake Chapala is a recent trend, here is an early published piece about the lake that I think is a prime example of wishful thinking. Taking into account the illustration, it established a high bar for the many later instances of wishful thinking. Felix Leopold Oswald (1845-1906) […]
Several artists associated with Lake Chapala attended the 1939-1940 San Francisco World’s Fair, also known as the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. The star Mexican attraction at the Fair was Diego Rivera. As his contribution to “Art in Action,” Rivera designed and executed a mural titled Pan American Unity. This magnificent mural is […]
The talented nineteenth century poet and dramatist Pablo J. Villaseñor is best remembered today for his creative work. But, shortly before he died in 1855, he also wrote an entry about Lake Chapala for a remarkable, collaborative, national, multi-volume publication titled Diccionario universal de historia y de geografía. Here, in translation, are a few select […]
Irene Bohus (sometimes Irene de Bohus), was born in New York in 1913, and died at the age of 72 on 27 March 1985 in a Mexico City hospital. Her parents, both born in Hungary, were Paul Bohus (1886-1966) and Irene Jelfy, who lived in Mexico City at the time of his death. Irene Bohus’ […]
A bold and ambitious plan was proposed in the 1920s to build a modernist city on the shores of Lake Chapala. The idea, first mooted in 1921, was formalized in 1923 when a 64-page pamphlet was published as the first, and apparently only, issue of The Chapala Round Table. The proposed site was at the […]
Nina Ketmer (1921-1965), a Danish-born naturalized American citizen and sculptor, lived in Ajijic in the early 1960s, following her marriage in about 1961 to Dick Bishop. Bishop had a spacious home at the corner of Ocampo and Privada Ocampo, which had belonged to his deceased wife, Margo, who, prior to marrying Bishop, had lived there […]
Did the great English author Aldous Huxley ever visit Lake Chapala? Let’s take a look at the evidence. A single sentence of Ruta de la Ribera de Chapala, suggests that he did. The book is one in a series of guides to tourist routes in the state of Jalisco, published more than a decade ago by […]
Charles (‘Chuck’) Leroy Engebretson painted and ran an art gallery in Ajijic for several years in the 1990s. A Marine Corps veteran, who served a decade in Korea and China, Engebretson was a life long artist who, according to his own estimate, completed more than 8000 paintings and 4000 portraits. Yet, his works rarely appear […]
When novelist John Mersereau retired in about 1960, he and his wife, Margaret, set off for Mexico, where they fell in love with the country and bought a house in Ajijic. The house, at Zaragoza #9, had formerly been owned by self-styled artist Dotty Strang. Strang had given free art classes to some local children, […]
Barbara F. Zagoria was one of the many talented artists working in Ajijic in the mid-1970s. Born in New York City on 17 February 1933, Zagoria studied at the School of Art and Design, New York City (1947-1950) and the Art Students League, New York City (1949) before taking a Bachelor of Fine Arts at […]
Despite Pablo J. Villaseñor’s tragically short life—he died in 1855 at the age of 27—he has left us some memorable literature, including an evocative romantic poem about Lake Chapala, an entry about Chapala in Mexico’s multi-volume, Diccionario Universal de Historia y Geografía, and a play with its own Wikipedia page. Pablo José María Villaseñor Villaseñor […]
This is the fourth in a mini series looking at examples of photo identification and interpretation errors related to the Lake Chapala area. In his article in the February 2025 issue of Estudios Jalisciences, Dr. Juan Arturo Camacho Becerra included this photograph, taken at Lake Chapala by Guadalajara-based photographer José María Lupercio. It was not […]
Of all the books associated with Lake Chapala, perhaps the one with the most curious title is Mexico My Home. Primitive Art and Modern Poetry With 50 easy to learn Spanish words and phrases. For all children from 8 to 80. With only 32 pages, and with only a few words on every alternate page, […]
Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Avary was just beginning her career as a visual artist when she moved to Ajijic in late 1970 with her husband, Don, and their three young children. The family lived there for a year before returning to the US. Born to Edward George Schaefer and his wife, Mildred, in Indianapolis on 14 […]
As we saw in a previous post—Wilhelm Schiess described Chapala in 1899—Dr Schiess (1869-1929), a Swiss doctor, visited Chapala briefly in 1899 with his brother, Ernst, and later published a detailed account of their trip. After a quick visit to Guadalajara, and seeing Juanacatlán Falls, the brothers had taken a special carriage from Atequiza to […]
A 1958 article titled “Art colony in Mexico will be high and dry” focused on whether Ajijic’s artistic community could survive if an alarming prediction made by a Mexican engineer came true. The engineer, after visiting the lake, gave it “just five years more of existence.” Fortunately, this did not come true—at least not yet—and […]
Milton Avery has been widely recognized as one of the most famous modernist painters born in the U.S. There is little point in recapping his extraordinary career and achievements here. But, for anyone unfamiliar with his life and work, here are two good starting points: A beginner’s guide to Milton Avery (Royal Academy of Arts) […]
There are not many genuinely old buildings left in Ajijic. Most of those that survived into the 1970s have since been modified or remodeled beyond recognition. One exception is the building at Morelos #8, one block back from the pier, which housed (until mid-February 2025) the store Mi México. It is a rare survivor, largely […]
Dwight Furness (1861-1924) was a wealthy and influential Chicago investor who grew up in Furnessville (named for his family) in Indiana. He arrived in Guanajuato as a 26-year-old—to represent a Missouri-based mining company—before quickly branching out on his own, buying and trading mineral ores. Furness was appointed U.S. consular agent at Guanajuato in 1889, and […]