Martín Ramírez: Trains, Tunnels and Horsemen
A Mexican migrant worker who spent 30 years in Californian hospitals, gluing scraps of paper together to draw trains, tunnels, horsemen and Madonnas.
By The Outsider Artist editors, Editorial team, Website Studio
Updated
· Last reviewed · 3 min read
In short
- Martín Ramírez (1895–1963) was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and migrated to California in the 1920s to work on the railways and in mines.
- He was institutionalised in the early 1930s and spent the rest of his life in Californian hospitals, from 1948 at DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn.
- He made about 300 known drawings on scraps of paper joined with homemade paste.
- His main motifs are trains and tunnels, horsemen, arches and Madonnas.
- The psychologist Tarmo Pasto preserved and exhibited his work; the American Folk Art Museum held a major retrospective in 2007.
Who was Martín Ramírez?
Martín Ramírez was born on 30 January 1895 near Tepatitlán in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. He married, had children and worked the land. In the 1920s, like many Mexicans, he went north to the United States to earn money, working on the railways in California.
The Great Depression left him unemployed and far from home. In the early 1930s he was picked up by the authorities in a state of distress, unable to communicate in English, and committed to Stockton State Hospital. He never returned to Mexico. In 1948 he was transferred to DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn, California, where he died on 17 February 1963.
How did Ramírez make his art?
Ramírez worked with whatever he could find: scraps of paper, envelopes, paper bags and wrapping paper. He joined them together with a paste he made himself to create large sheets, some several metres long. On these he drew with crayon, pencil and coloured pencil, and later with gouache, building up layered lines with great control.
About 300 works are known, mostly from the last 15 years of his life.
What does his art show?
Ramírez returned to a small set of images again and again:
- Trains and tunnels: locomotives emerging from tunnels drawn as rhythmic, stacked lines, recalling his work on the railways.
- Horsemen: mounted figures, known as jinetes, often armed, set on stage-like platforms.
- Arches and buildings: church facades and proscenium arches, like stage sets.
- Madonnas: images of the Virgin, especially the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, from the Catholic imagery of his childhood.
- Animals and landscapes from rural Jalisco.
The repeated lines create a sense of depth and movement that has led critics to compare him with major modern artists.
Who was Tarmo Pasto?
Tarmo Pasto was a psychologist and art teacher who worked with patients at DeWitt. He recognised the importance of Ramírez's drawings, collected and preserved hundreds of them, supplied him with materials and organised exhibitions in the 1950s. Most of the surviving work exists because of him.
How did Ramírez become famous?
After his death, Ramírez's work was bought by collectors and shown in exhibitions of outsider art, including the Hayward Gallery's 1979 Outsiders show in London. His reputation grew steadily. In 2007 the American Folk Art Museum in New York held a large retrospective, followed by a survey at the Reina Sofía in Madrid in 2010.
Where can you see his work?
- American Folk Art Museum, New York, which holds dozens of his drawings.
- Milwaukee Art Museum and other US museums.
- Collection de l'Art Brut, Lausanne.
Why does Ramírez matter?
Ramírez's story is a migrant's story as much as a psychiatric one. Recent research has drawn more attention to his Mexican roots, his life as a labourer and the role of language and culture in his diagnosis. His drawings carry memories of a home he never saw again.
Key dates
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1895 | Born on 30 January near Tepatitlán, Jalisco, Mexico |
| 1920s | Migrates to California to work on the railways |
| Early 1930s | Committed to Stockton State Hospital |
| 1948 | Transferred to DeWitt State Hospital, Auburn, California |
| 1950s | Tarmo Pasto preserves and exhibits his drawings |
| 1963 | Dies at DeWitt on 17 February |
| 1979 | Included in the Hayward Gallery's Outsiders exhibition |
| 2007 | Retrospective at the American Folk Art Museum, New York |
| 2010 | Survey at the Reina Sofía, Madrid |
Where to go next
Read about art from the asylum, or meet Bill Traylor, another self-taught American master.
Sources and further reading
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