Emigdio Vasquez, “Retrospective 50”

by Liz Goldner

Hilbert Museum of California Art, Orange, California

Continuing through May 30, 2026

Emigdio Vasquez, “John the Prophet,” 1985, oil on canvas 24 x 36”. All images courtesy of the Hilbert Museum of California Art, Orange, CA.

This largest ever retrospective of 50 paintings by Emigdio Vasquez (1939-2024) is long past due. The Orange County artist’s works from 1967 to 2007 include compassionate portraits of OC barrio residents and their neighborhoods. These day laborers, fellow residents, and his own family and friends reveal the artist’s empathy and admiration for his subjects. These are social realist paintings are infused with intimacy. Many of his subjects look out intensely from their canvasses, as though engaging us in conversation.

Historically, Vasquez began his storytelling oeuvre before a new generation of now better-known Chicano artists, such as Frank Romero and Gilbert Luhan, blazed an artistic path during the later 20th century. These artists, employing bright colors and energetic brushstrokes to illustrate the sweep of East Los Angeles with its lowrider cars and freeways, usurped the limelight from their older peers.

Vasquez saw people and landscapes that tell stories of dignity and humility within congenial neighborhoods. “John the Prophet” (1985), for example, captures a homeless man leaning against a trailer and expressing his religious beliefs to the barrio locals. Three shadows on the trailer’s side establish the presence of neighborhood men listening to John’s prophecies. “El Viejito Del Barrio” (The Old Man from the Neighborhood) (1975) depicts an old man with the weathered face of a person who picked oranges under the sun for decades, and is living out his later years with quiet, respectful modesty.

Emigdio Vasquez, “Pachucos on 4th Street,” 2000, oil on canvas, 15 x 12”.

“Pachucos on 4th Street” (2000) presents five audacious zoot suited men, all decked out wearing long jackets with wide lapels, patterned ties, baggy trousers tapered at the ankles and long watch chains. These proud Chicano men from decades ago, with their ducktail hairdos and mustaches, were effecting an early version of performance art.

Of particular note is “La Bolucha” (1965), the oldest piece here. The title translates loosely as “The Harvest.” Four day laborers on their lunch breaks are telling stories of life in Mexico and the Mexican Revolution. Vasquez had accompanied his father to these “harvests,” and became fascinated by the men’s’ stories. The day laborer remained as subject and symbol in many paintings throughout his career.

Vasquez’s several landscapes of run-down barrio buildings and scenes are equally compelling. In the book “The Boy Who Painted the Barrio,” by his daughter, Rosemary Vasquez Tuthill, he is quoted: “As a young artist, I was groping with the problem of finding meaningful subject matter to paint. His [mentor, Mr. Robert Braden] advice to me was that I need not look any further than my immediate environment. He felt that the area contained a wealth of subject matter which could provide me with the material to work for years.”

Emigdio Vasquez, “The Shack,” 1974, oil on canvas, 30 x 24”.

With this inspiration, the highly motivated artist carried his paints and canvasses all over the barrio, elevating dilapidated scenes into compelling landscapes. “The Shack” (1974) shows a rough-hewn shed in the backyard of his mother-in-law’s Anaheim home. “La Carucha De Johnny” (1972) is a humorous illustration of a broken-down 1950 Chevrolet parked alongside a falling-apart house. Vasquez wrote, ”The physical element of this blight and decay which captivated my eye were the corroded, weather-beaten wood, the jungle-like vegetation, the rusted metal, chipped paint, dust and shattered glass windows of old cars, and the variety of discarded objects.”

Vasquez turned piles of junk into fascinating, harmonious works of art. “Junque de Barrio” (“Neighborhood Junk”) (1978) jams together an orange crate, a box that held Budweiser beer, discarded paper plates, and soda cans. Mere garbage that for the artist recalls and was inspired by a large joyous family celebration. “Backyard Junk Still-Life” (1981) illustrates a different aspect of the artist’s life. His father Santiago was a miner and carpenter who was often working on a house project, leaving tools, shoes, pieces of wood and other clutter against an old fence. Vasquez saw harmony in the setting, presenting all of it as a reminiscent slice of life.

Emigdio Vasquez, “Revolutionaries,” 2009, oil on canvas, 36 x 24”.

The youngster who grew up hearing stories of the Mexican Revolution from his elders painted several scenes from those events out of his imagination. “Los Revolucionarios” (1967) depicts three Mexican soldiers playing music, singing and drinking as a respite from the battles of the Revolution. “Revolutionaries” (2009) shows four fierce key figures from the Revolution, 1910 to 1920, dressed with a casual elegance that makes them appear as movie characters. They are Felipe Angels, General Pancho Villa, General Emiliano Zapato, his brother Eufemio and an unknown kneeling soldier. “Villists” (2007), features four stalwart fighters with Pancho Villa leading the troupe on horseback.

The artist did not limit himself to depicting the people inhabiting his neighborhood or the historical narratives he picked up from elders. Several detailed still lifes and the elegantly attired bullfighter “El Pundohonor” (1972) demonstrate Vasquez’s versatility.

Emigdio Vasquez, “Packing House, Circa 1948,” 2015, oil on canvas.

The most recent painting here is “Packing House, Circa 1948” (2015), a diagonal composition of a row of orange packers. The painting was begun by Vasquez and completed after he died by his daughter Rosemary. The portraits of six ladies include two who were Vasquez’s sisters and Rosemary’s aunts.

Vasquez, who has been referred to as the "Godfather of Hispanic artists," visually documented the Chicano barrio experience in a manner that has aged well. His many thoughtful portraits, landscapes of gritty street scenes, slice of life illustrations, and Mexican Revolution scenes add up to an exhibition that celebrates the dignity, heritage, and humanity of the Orange County Barrio and its people during a time that must be recognized but not returned to.

Liz Goldner is an award-winning art writer based in Laguna Beach. She has contributed to the LA Times, LA Weekly, KCET Artbound, Artillery, AICA-USA Magazine, Orange County Register, Art Ltd. and several other print and online publications. She has written reviews for ArtScene and Visual Art Source since 2009. 

Liz Goldner’s Website.