Francisco Eppens Helguera was a Mexican artist best known for his paintings, murals and sculptures. Typically the images he painted were scenes depicting the life of working Mexicans and Mexican culture. He achieved international fame for his award winning modern designs for Mexican postage and revenue stamps and for his 1968 redesign of the Mexican coat of arms, still used today on Mexican government documents, coins and the national flag.
Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Eppens primarily painted murals in the interiors of institutional and governmental buildings. During the 1960s, he created glass mosaic murals for the exteriors of commercial buildings, as well as some large metal sculptures in Mexico and around the world. However, during the final stage of his career, in the 1970s and 1980s, he primarily created paintings.
Eppens’ best known art works include:
Alcatraces (Cala lilies), 1965
Contrafuertes Coloniales (Colonial buttresses), 1971
Arquitectura Prehispánica (Pre-Hispanic buildings), 1983
La Danza de la Media Luna (Dance of the half moon), 1984
Las Hermanas (The sisters), 1988
The Mexican coat of Arms
Eppens designed the 1968 version of the Mexican coat of arms, which is still used today on government documents, coins and the national flag.
Source: Francisco Eppens (1913-1990), Fondo Cultural Carmen A.C., México, D.F., 2001. Exhibition catalog.