Francisco Toledo

1941 -

Francisco Toledo began his studies at the Escuela de Bellas Artes de Oaxaca. He then studied graphic arts with Guillermo Silva Santamaria at the Centro Superior de Artes Aplicadas del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, México. In 1960 he left for Paris to live and travel throughout Europe. After returning to México Toledo focused on the folk art of Oaxaca. He designed tapestries with the craftsmen of Teotitlan del Valle and he founded the Instituto de Artes Graficas de Oaxaca (IAGO) in 1988.

His social commitment to his native state was manifested in the establishment of important art libraries at the AIGO such as the Museum de Arte Contemporaneo de Oaxaca (MACO), the Patronato Pro-Defensa y Conservacion del Patrimonio Cultural de Oaxaca, a photographic center, a library for the blind, and the Eduardo Mata Music Library. Celebrating the traditional arts of Oaxaca, Toledo has worked in a variety of media, such as painting, sculpture, pottery, weaving, and graphic arts. He has had exhibitions in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, Belgium, France, Japan, Sweden, the United States, and throughout the world.
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