World Watercolor Day Date in the current year: November 23, 2024

Guati Rojo began drawing and painting when he was in primary school. He learned various art techniques but watercolor was his favorite. When he tried to get his watercolors shown at galleries, they were rejected because watercolor was considered to be a minor art form. Guati Rojo began to host exhibitions of watercolor works himself to restore the reputation of watercolor painting as a true art form.

In 1964, Guati Rojo founded the Mexican Society of Watercolor Artists (Sociedad Mexicana de Acuarelistas) and the world’s first Watercolor Museum. The first building of the museum was destroyed by the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, but two years later the city government donated a new site to the museum. Unfortunately, the government couldn’t support the project financially, so the museum continued on Guati Rojo’s personal funds and private donations. Following the death of Alfredo Guati Rojo in 2003, the museum was named after him.

Guati Rojo created World Watercolor Day in order to promote watercolor painting both in Mexico and abroad. On this day, exhibitions of watercolor paintings are held in participating cities.