Miguel Covarrubias, born in 1904 and died in 1957, was a painter and draftsman. He created popular caricatures for Vanity Fair and the New Yorker and wrote and illustrated books on his travels. His interest in the ethnology and archaeology of Mexico led to his assembling a remarkable collection of pre- Columbian art, which was willed to the Mexico City National Museum of Anthropology.

About the work: 

Leonard Folgarait's seminal work, Mural Painting and Social Revolution in Mexico, 1920–1940: Art of the New Order unveiled not only the symbiotic relationship between the Mexican mural movement and societal revolution, but also its far-reaching impact, engendering a transoceanic dialogue. This is discernible in the influences of Diego Rivera and Miguel Covarrubias. Chinese left-wing artists were observant of Rivera's every artistic maneuver. Indeed, Shenbao Monthly, Shanghai's most widely-read pictorial, provided real-time coverage of the mural Rivera crafted for Detroit City. In the 1930s, Miguel Covarrubias made a detour to Shanghai whilst en route to Indonesia. During his sojourn, he engaged with numerous dynamic Chinese artists, leaving behind an array of drawings.