have talent". An exhibition that traveled to Frankfurt, Vienna, and Dallas in 1987–88 showed a group of striking paintings by Izquierdo that announced to a non-Mexican audience the powerful presence of another painter of almost equal stature and originality. The career of this outstanding artist was the subject of a recent ground-breaking exhibition organised by the Centro Cultural/Arte Contemporaneo in Mexico City. Izquierdo's work shares many of the same themes and pre-occupations as that of Kahlo. Her paintings often refer to tragic elements in her life and incorporate the type of dream-like fantasies that are to be found in the work of artists of the Mexican School. The exhibition included 160 works. The excellent catalog presented five biographical and interpretive essays, with a complete bibliography, chronology and exhibition history. The vast corpus of photographs of both the artist and her work gives a visual repertory of virtually every known painting, drawing and print. It is an essential addition to the bibliography of modern Mexican painting. Style Classified by some as a surrealist painter, María Izquierdo never identified herself as a surrealist. Instead, Izquierdo identified with the Contemporáneos, who believed that Mexican culture should be rightfully seen as a vital contributor to the dominant Western culture. She wasn't afraid to go against popular Mexican art movements and follow her own style of painting. Her culture as a mestiza was an essential part of her artistic style and themes used in her work. Izquierdo was celebrated as an artist with a genuine understanding of native and rural traditions, and her altar paintings were recognized at the time for "their delightful indigenous ingenuousness." Her naive painterly technique, intended to recall the folk painting of regional artisans, heightened the effect. Still, many of her paintings contain unusual subject matters and interesting juxtapositions. Izquierdo's peculiar inclusion into a Mexican nationalist discourse suggest ways of bringing together several sets of discourses too often kept separate: those of Latin America, of feminism, of modernism, and of nationalism. Still, many of her paintings contain unusual subject matters and interesting juxtapositions. Known for her use of bold, rich, and bright colors, most of Izquierdo's paintings were done using oil paints or watercolor. Although she was and is still often compared to Frida Kahlo because both woman launched their careers at similar times, the two have very individual styles. At the beginning she would paint still life and portraits. She