Place: Azusa
Born: 1895
Death: 1970
Biography:
Early Career and Marriage
Rolanda’s debut performance was to Shubert’s Over the Top, which sparked a continued dance career throughout the 1920s. After a tour in Europe with the Ziegfeld Follies dance troupe, Rolanda performed in the musical Around the Town. It was soon after, while working on Garrick Gaieties, that Rolanda met Miguel Covarrubias on set. She became involved with the Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias in 1924, and in the following year the couple traveled to Mexico, where Rolanda began to take photographs. Photography and Painting
Albums of her images were published in Covarrubias's best-selling books Island of Bali (1938) and Mexico South: Isthmus of Tehuantepec (1946), and her work was also featured in the "Ameridinian" issue of Wolfgang Paalen's journal DYN, published in 1943. During the late 1920s or early 1930s, Rolanda experimented with photograms, creating significant series of surrealist self-portraits that may have been influenced by Man Ray, who photographed Rolanda in Paris in 1923. She probably began painting around 1926. The majority of Rolanda's canvases depict colorful, folkloric scenes of children and festivals, portraits of friends such as the movie actresses Dolores del Río and María Félix, and self-portraits. Later Life and Death
Rolanda and Covarrubias married in 1930, and by 1935 they had permanently settled into his family home in Tizapan El Alto, close to Mexico City. In 1952 Rolanda exhibited her paintings in a solo show at the prominent Galeria Souza in Mexico City. By 1952, Covarrubias had completely separated from Rolanda in pursuit of one of his own students, Rocío Sagaón. At this point, Rolanda was producing works, such as Autorretrato (self-portrait), conveying her innermost turmoils onto canvas. She died in 1970 in Mexico City, Mexico.
Key points: - Rosa Rolanda was a multidisciplinary artist who worked in various fields, including dance, photography, and painting. - She began her artistic career as a dancer in Broadway revues in 1916. - Her work was influenced by Man Ray and other artists of the time.