The History of Art in San Miguel de Allende: Eleanor Coen, a woman honoring women

By Natalie Taylor

When you walk into Bellas Artes and walk straight ahead beneath the arches, you will come to a remarkable mural. It is, first of all, a depiction of Mexican working women, but more remarkable is the fact that this work was done by a woman. Not a Mexican woman, but an artist from Chicago who appeared in the midst of Mexican muralists, led by unabashedly macho males like Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siquieiros, two of the big stars of the mid-1900s. The woman was Eleanor Coen and the amazing fresco she painted on the wall of Bellas Artes is Las Lavanderas—The Washerwomen.

In recent years there has been criticism of those outside a culture attempting to depict it. No matter the care taken, there is always the potential of misinterpreting or, worse yet, patronizing a particular society. The issue is not simple, and there are many ways to interpret the motivations and the end results of an artist’s work. One might ask if anyone at all is capable of interpreting another.

In the case of Eleanor Coen’s mural, it seems that she has depicted the women in the mural with respect and even love. And, the fact that she chose these humble women as subject of the mural, would indicate that she has paid homage to them. After all, she could very well had chosen to paint portraits of some wealthy residents of the city.

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