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. […]
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. Martin Casillas de Alba, de Alba’s grandson, has written several books related to Lake Chapala and his family’s links to local history. The […]
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 […]
Dr Wilhelm Schiess (1869-1929) visited Chapala briefly in 1899, during a winter trip to Mexico with his brother, Ernst. His detailed account of their trip, with dozens of photographs, was published in 1902 as Quer durch Mexiko vom Atlantischen zum Stillen Ocean (“Across Mexico from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean”). It was well received […]
Commercial illustrator Fritz (Fred) Alseth (1924-2006) resided at Lake Chapala in the late 1980s. During his time at the lake, he provided illustrations for El Ojo del Lago, and also for a series of cards promoting the local area, from Chapala to San Juan Cosalá, with an emphasis on hotels and tourist locations. Illustrator Fred […]
Canadian journalist and adventurer Evan Evans-Atkinson (who used the name Evan Atkinson for his early writing) wrote “Candid View of Chapala. An Honest Report on Retiring In Mexico” for the New York-based periodical Travel in 1958. “Candid View” was one of several articles in the 1950s that publicized Lake Chapala as an option for inexpensive […]
Professional dancer Carla Manger (the name she was known by in Mexico) was born in Wattenscheid, Germany, on 7 August 1914. Her birth name was Carla Marie Windeler. After completing the equivalent of high school in Bochum, she danced in Oldenburg, Bielefeld and Stetin, before studying and dancing for three years at the Folk Arts […]
Orator, poet, jeweler and diplomat Francisco Izábal Iriarte was born in the port city of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, in 1871, but lived much of his adult life in Guadalajara. Claims on social media that he (and two sisters) settled in Guadalajara after 1910 are contradicted by contemporaneous newspaper accounts which show that Izábal was definitely a […]
Among the early grayscale postcard photographs of Lake Chapala are several well-composed views signed L. V. García. In researching this photographer, I stumbled across an article which included this image of Lake Chapala, captioned “L. V. García. Alrededores de Guadalajara: Chapala, Jalisco. Ca. 1900,” held in the Fondo Fotográfico Antonio Alzate of the National University […]
Many of the artists and authors associated with Lake Chapala have clear links to Christmas. Admittedly, some links are more tenuous than others. Here, in no particular order, are some that come to mind: German-born photographer Hugo Brehme, who is credited with having introduced the first photographic Christmas cards into Mexico. Brehme photographed Lake Chapala […]