Olga Costa

OLGA COSTA (LEIPZIG, ALEMANIA, 1913 – GUANAJUATO, MEXICO, 1993) - BIOGRAPHY

Born as Olga Kostakowsky in Leipzig, Germany, on August 28, 1913, Olga Costa arrived in Mexico in 1925, when she was just twelve years old. Her family, of Jewish-Russian origin, was seeking a place to rebuild their lives, far from the growing winds of intolerance sweeping across Europe. Mexico, with its light, colors, and traditions, offered young Olga a fertile ground where she could plant her roots and nurture her art.

Her European childhood became a distant memory. It was in Mexico where she truly came of age, not only as a person but also as an artist, eventually changing her name to Olga Costa. The vibrancy of the markets, the popular life, the pre-Hispanic art, and traditional crafts all captured her imagination with a force that never left her.

In 1933, she briefly enrolled at the Academia de San Carlos in Mexico City, studying under Carlos Mérida, seeking the training then offered by the academic system. At the same time, she took printmaking classes with Emilio Amero, where she met her future life and artistic partner, José Chávez Morado. They met in an atmosphere of cultural effervescence, where artists debated, painted, and dreamed of a new country. Their connection was immediate, born out of their shared love for art and commitment to Mexico. They married in 1935, forming a union that was not only emotional but also deeply creative.

Throughout their lives, Olga Costa and José Chávez Morado were accomplices and allies. Though each followed their own aesthetic path—she devoted to a lyrical form of painting, he more aligned with social art—they shared a deep love for Mexican traditions, folk art, and cultural education. Together they collected pieces, founded a museum, and contributed to enriching the artistic heritage of Guanajuato.

Olga Costa dedicated herself to building a body of work marked by profound originality. Her paintings are notable for their exaltation of color, formal synthesis, and a loving gaze toward Mexican popular life. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Costa was not drawn to grand political themes or heroic tales of the Revolution. Her universe was different: that of flowers, fruits, anonymous women, and domestic altars. Her first solo exhibition took place at the Galería de Arte Mexicano in 1945. Her most celebrated painting, La vendedora de frutas (1951), considered an icon of modern Mexican art, was commissioned by the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL) for the exhibition “Art mexicain du précolombien à nos jours” at the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, and is now part of the collection of the Museo de Arte Moderno in Mexico City.

Her work won the admiration of both critics and the public, although, true to her discreet nature, Costa never sought the spotlight. The highest recognition of her career came in 1990 when she was awarded the National Prize for Arts and Sciences in the Fine Arts category, one of Mexico’s highest cultural honors.

Olga Costa and José Chávez Morado played a crucial role in preserving Mexican art. In 1966, they acquired La Torre del Arco, originally a water tower from a historic hacienda and mining complex, transforming it into their studio, home, and a repository for their collections of pre-Hispanic, colonial, and folk art artifacts. They later donated this property, along with part of their collections and artwork, to the State Institute of Culture, creating the Museo de Arte Olga Costa - José Chávez Morado in 1993. As early as 1975, they had already donated part of their collection to the Museo Regional de la Alhóndiga de Granaditas, and in 1979, they donated portions of their eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Mexican painting and sculpture collection to the Museo del Pueblo in Guanajuato. These museums not only preserve the memory of their lives and works but also their passion for the deep, authentic Mexico—for its artisans, its festivals, and its ancestral knowledge.

After decades of creative life and cultural commitment, Olga Costa passed away on June 28, 1993, in Guanajuato.

(Sources: 1. Olga Costa, Dialogues with Mexican Modernism, Hirmer Publishers, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Germany, 2022; 2. José Chávez Morado - Olga Costa, Tribute Exhibition, Salón de la Plástica Mexicana, 1983)

MAIN SOLO EXHIBITIONS