May 8, 2009
Mothman cover image by artist Bill Rebsamen, from Mothman and Other Curious Encounters. © Loren Coleman/William Rebsamen 2002.
It needs to be mentioned that another loose end about all of this H1N1/swine flu business exists: Yes, it is strange that sightings of a Mothman-type creature appeared in the rural areas of Mexico in March 2009 and before. I’m not saying it was a Banshee-like precursor to the flu outbreak, as in The Mothman Prophecies. All I am saying is that it is to be noted.
The Mexican State of Chihuahua was terrorized by the above ‘Man-Bat’ over the winter of 2009.
Okay, over the weekend, I did publish the following image:
At Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende, just a block from the Jardin in the Centro, in Mexico, one may observe the many murals and galleries that line the arched walls.
One of the murals (above) is identified by the original source as the “Chupacabras mural.”
I noted the panic painted as occurring among the people when they saw this creature.
A frequent correspondent to Cryptomundo, Miguel (RPJ) who lives in Mexico City, was stirred to dig more deeply into the background of this image. (Investigations on such things are a process, and here is a peek inside an exchange about how this unfolds.)
He wrote:
Doing a little research it seems that the mural doesn’t really have a proper title, and I would love to know what was the source of inspiration for the artist —who was David Alfaro Siqueiros, a famous Mexican muralist that tried to assasinate Trotsky— since this is before any account of Chupacabras or Mothman.
BTW, the Centro Cultural Bellas Artes has a nickname, El Nigromante (the Necromancer).
I wrote him back, asking for some kind of clarification on the date of this mural, for I had discovered that, “The structure was built in 1775. But José David Alfaro Siqueiros lived from 1896 to January 6, 1974.”
The painting obviously was more recent that when the building was originally built, and Siqueiro created his murals mostly in the 1930s-1940s in Mexico, it seems.
Later, RPJ wrote:
[Undo] Searching more about the famous mural, it’s more possible that it was painted by one of the students of the Fine Arts School, than by Siqueiros or any other famous muralist….It’s incredible the lack of info regarding this mural. A true enigma in itself.
and also, he expanded on this separately,
Or maybe it was painted by Diego Rivera? He was born in Guanajuato, but I didn’t find the mural in a book I have about his work, so it’s unlikely.
From what I’m investigating right now, it seems that Siqueiros was asked to impart a workshop to teach muralism techniques in that school (The Escuela de Bellas Artes de Guanajuato) in 1948. I think the most likely explanation is that it was painted by one of the students of the school.
So, the floor is open to the art historians, Mexican art researchers, and muralists reading. What do you know of this strange subject for a mural in Mexico, its date, and any background information?
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Filed under Chupacabras, Conspiracies, Cryptomundo Exclusive, Cryptotourism, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoologists, Cryptozoology, Mothman, Pop Culture, Twilight Language, Winged Weirdies, Year In Review