Appreciation: Francisco Toledo, a colossus of Mexican culture
MEXICO CITY - He was often seen on the streets of Oaxaca city, recognizable by his disheveled gray hair and bushy beard, his white peasant blouse and leather sandals.
He cut a spectral figure, hurried, not keen to be recognized, even as passersby would exclaim: "Maestro!"
Francisco Toledo, 79, slight of frame but a colossus of Mexican culture, died Thursday, his family announced, igniting global tributes for a man whose singular depictions of animals and people - including self-portraits of his deeply etched, haunted visage - won international acclaim.
Although not a household name in the United States, he was regarded in Mexico as a national treasure.
"Art is in mourning," Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wrote on Twitter. "Oaxacan, great
